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FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

OR 

OUR  RURAL  RESERVE 


BY 

Ernest  Irving  Antrim,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D. 

Member  of  the  Fourth  Constitutional  Convention  of 
Ohio;  co-author  of  ''The  County  Library, ^^ 


THE  PIONEER  PRESS 
VAN  WERT,  OHIO 


Copyright  by 

The  Pioneer  Press 

1916 

Published  April,  1916 

.  ■  U 


W,  F.  HALL  PRINTING  COMPANY,  CHICAGO 


y 


INTRODUCTION 

Bishop  William  F.  Anderson,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

THE  Country  Life  movement  is  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able and  significant  facts  of  our  day.  It  seems  hardly 
credible  that  the  first  national  commission  was  appointed  in 
1908.  That  any  movement  in  so  brief  a  time  should  have 
gripped  the  thought  of  the  leaders  of  American  life  and  should 
have  created  so  extensive  and  high  grade  a  literature  upon  the 
subject,  is  itself  as  fine  a  tribute  to  the  importance  of  the  work 
as  could  be  imagined. 

The  rural  population  of  the  United  States  includes  over  one- 
half  of  the  entire  population.  We  include,  in  the  term  "  rural," 
villages  and  towns  not  exceeding  twenty-five  hundred  in  popu- 
lation. The  thirteenth  census  revealed  the  following  facts : 
That  in  only  six  of  the  forty-eight  states  was  there  a  decrease 
in  the  rural  population;  eight  states  increased  over  fifty  per 
cent;  six  between  thirty  and  fifty  per  cent;  twelve  between 
twenty  and  thirty  per  cent;  ten  between  ten  and  twenty  per 
cent,  and  only  sixteen  of  the  entire  number  of  states  increased 
less  than  ten  per  cent.  The  value  of  farm  property  for  the 
same  period  increased  over  one  hundred  per  cent  and  aggre- 
gates at  the  present  time  more  than  forty  billions  of  dollars. 

By  common  consent,  the  church  is  at  the  very  heart  of  the 
rural  life  movement.  If  a  body  of  men  had  been  appointed  to 
exalt  the  relation  of  the  church  to  rural  community  life,  they 
could  not  possibly  have  done  it  more  effectively  than  it  was 
done  by  the  report  of  the  first  national  commission  on  the  rural 
life  movement.  That  report  is  notable  in  the  remarkable  way 
in  which  it  magnifies  the  church  in  its  relation  to  the  better- 
ment of  rural  community  life.  The  movement  has  gripped 
our  educational  and  constructive  leaders  in  a  way  scarcely 
paralleled  in  so  brief  a  period  of  time.  It  is  the  beginning  of  a 
new  and  better  day  for  the  rural  life  of  America.  And  it  will 
be  seen  at  a  glance  that  any  effort  to  redeem  American  life 


34Sf203 


INTRODUCTION 

must  include  rural  life,  which  is  so  much  a  constituent  c 
national  life. 

This  volume  itself  is  a  testimonial  to  the  fact  that  the  move 
ment  makes  a  strong  appeal  to  the  minds  of  laymen.  Mi 
Antrim  has  given  careful  study  to  the  subject,  and  deals  wit 
the  vital  facts  of  the  problem  in  a  living  and  vital  fashion.  Thi 
little  volume  will  be  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  already  ric 
literature  upon  the  subject.  It  has  a  real  mission.  May  it  hav 
multitudes  of  thoughtful  and  earnest  readers. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
February  26,  1916. 


IV 


PREFACE 

THIS  little  volume  modestly  seeks  to  establish  the  four 
facts  (i)  that  America,  because  of  her  location,  her 
natural  resources,  her  racial  heritage,  her  history  and  the 
ideals  of  her  people,  gives  promise  of  becoming,  in  the  words 
of  Sir  Gilbert  Parker,  "the  vast  controlling  factor  in  the 
destinies  of  modern  nations;"  (2)  that  Rural  America,  great 
relatively  in  the  "  Age  of  Homespun,"  less  influential  during 
the  rise  of  the  cities  to  supremacy,  but  today  all  athrob  with 
new  life,  is  enjoying  a  renaissance  prophetic  of  a  brilliant 
future;  (3)  that  Rural  Leadership,  with  a  vision  of  the  moun- 
tain-top variety,  with  the  incentive  of  the  most  inviting  careers 
in  the  field  of  human  endeavor,  and  with  the  prospect  of  won- 
derful accomplishments  in  the  Big  Business  of  both  the  Secular 
and  the  Spiritual  Kingdom,  is  enthusiastically  assuming  the 
responsibility  of  an  inspiring  task;  and  (4)  that  Rural  Co- 
operation, in  developing  a  more  satisfactory  economic  plan, 
in  building  up  a  better  social  and  recreational  life,  in  strength- 
ening the  agencies  that  contribute  to  intellectual  growth,  and 
in  fusing  the  scattered  forces  of  the  spiritual  realm  into  unified 
effort,  is  working  out  an  epochal  Program  of  Preparedness. 

The  manuscript  was  read  by  Professor  G.  Walter  Fiske,  of 
the  Oberlin  Theological  Seminary,  Mr.  Albert  E.  Roberts,  of 
the  International  Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations, and  Mr.  Percy  F.  Bicknell,  literary  critic,  to  all  of 
whom,  as  well  as  to  several  others,  grateful  acknowledgment 
is   made,  for   valuable   criticisms   and   suggestions. 

E.  I.  A. 

Van  Wert,  Ohio, 
March  6,  1916. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/fiftymillionstroOOantrrich 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Chapter  I.    America 1 

1.  Equipment  for  a  great  task 2 

2.  Four  perils  of  Urban  America 10 

3.  Four  perils  of  Rural  America 14 

4.  Elimination  of  perils 17 

Chapter  II.     Rural  America 19 

Life    of    Christ:    Play,    work,    worship,    health, 

love,  rest 19 

1.  Play:  Anything  that  one  does  out  of  pure  love  25 

2.  Work:   Anything  that  one   does  with   serious 

effort 47 

3.  Worship:  Attuning  oneself  to  the  Infinite  .      .  75 

4.  Health:  The  perfect  adjustment  of  mind  and 

body 83 

5.  Love:  The  greatest  feeling  of  the  heart       .      .  94 

6.  Rest:  Recuperation  through  repose  ....  100 

7.  Conclusion:  Four  fundamental  needs     .      .      .  103 

Chapter  III.     Rural  Leadership 108 

1.  Discovering,  training  and  utilizing  rural  lead- 

ership          108 

2.  Qualities  or  characteristics  of  successful  lead- 

ership          110 

3.  The  results  of  inspired  leadership     ....  126 

4.  The  price  of  leadership 128 

Chapter  IV.     Rural  Cooperation  .           .      .     .      .      .  130 

1.  Cooperation  in  the  individual  and  in  society   .  130 

2.  Obstacles  to  cooperation  in  country  and  town  131 

3.  Units   of  cooperation 138 

4.  Methods  of  cooperation 140 

5.  The  chief  problem  of  country  and  town      .      .  141 

6.  The  results  of  cooperative  activities      .      .      .  142 

7.  Conclusion:      Cooperation     a    cosmic     law,    a 

divine  injunction 149 

vii 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 


CHAPTER  I 
AMERICA 


THE  Marathon  runner  must  have  had  a  sturdy  ancestry, 
a  good  environment,  a  clean  life,  a  long  period  of  special 
training,  be  in  the  pink  of  condition  and  have  a  mountain-top 
faith,  if  he  would  win.  Likewise,  America  must  have  had  a 
sturdy  ancestry,  a  good  environment,  a  clean  life,  a  long  period 
of  special  training,  be  in  the  pink  of  condition  and  have  a 
mountain-top  faith,  if  she  would  dominate  the  era  inaugurated 
by  the  World  War.  A  little  investigation  will  show  whether 
or  not  America  is  fitted  for  the  leadership  which  she  aspires 
to  assume  in  the  post  bellum  world,  a  shrinking,  contracting 
world,  a  world  wherein,  among  many  other  wonderful  things, 
even  the  telephone  talk  of  The  New  York  Mail  will  be  a 
reality. 

*'  Hello,  Calcutta  !     Canarsie  wants  you.'' 

"  I'm  still  ringing  9876  Shantung." 

"  Never  mind,  Montclair !  New  Guinea  was  calling,  but  the 
party's  left  the  booth." 

"Here's  Chihuahua,  Vladivostok!  Drop  one  rouble  at  a 
time,  please !  " 

"  Listen,  Kansas  City !   Tibet  2626  has  been  discontinued." 

"  Hello,  Tokio ;  you  say  you  can't  understand  the  party  in 
Buenos  Ayres  ?  I'll  have  the  manager  put  an  interpretress  on 
the  line." 

"  That  b-r-r-r-r-r  from  the  Glasgow  exchange  is  spoiling  the 
waves ! " 

"  You  want  the  correct  time  ?  " 

"  Quit  your  kidding,  Greenwich !  " 

I 


FIFTY  M'WL^ON  STRONG 

First/ Ante  flea's  Ancestry. —  The  remote  ancestor  of  the 
American  people  was  an  Aryan,  most  of  whose  descendants 
came  over  into  Europe.  In  fact,  a  great  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Europe  today  are  of  Aryan  lineage.  The 
principal  descendants  of  the  great  Aryan  family  were  the 
Greek,  the  Roman,  the  Teuton  and  the  Slav.  Of  these  the 
Greek  was  the  first  to  come  into  prominence.  There  was  a 
great  ancient  Greek  civilization,  but,  like  all  the  other  civiliza- 
tions of  antiquity,  it  perished.  The  Greek  nation  of  today  is 
just  emerging  from  Turkish  dominancy,  and  under  the  in- 
spiration of  the  Greek  Idea,  which  means  the  restoration  of 
the  Greece  of  earlier  centuries,  the  Greek  people  is  sure  to  rise 
again.  The  next  to  dominate  world  activities  was  the  Roman, 
who  created  the  civilization  that  preceded  modern  civiliza- 
tion. Modern  civilization  is  chiefly  indebted  to  the  Teuton. 
The  Slavic  peoples  are  beginning  to  assert  themselves  in  latter- 
day  history  and  will  some  time  occupy  a  more  conspicuous 
place  in  world  activities.  There  is  little  doubt  in  the  mind  of 
any  investigator  of  world  conditions  that,  in  the  marvelous 
development  of  modern  civilization,  the  Teuton  has  taken  the 
initiative  and  is  today  the  most  important  factor.  Now,  the 
leading  Teutonic  nations  are  the  English,  the  Germans,  the 
Dutch  and  the  Scandinavians.  Everyone  recognizes  the  fact 
that  the  world  has  for  a  generation,  at  least,  responded  most 
sympathetically  to  Teutonic  influences  and  will  quite  likely  for 
an  indefinite  period  follow  a  Teutonic  trend.  The  American 
people,  largely  descended  from  the  four  chief  Teutonic  peoples, 
is  a  composite  nation.  Of  course,  the  basis  of  the  American 
population  is  English,  but  the  German,  Dutch  and  Scandina- 
vian elements  make  the  nation  distinctively  Teutonic.  It 
must  be  concluded,  then,  that  being  of  Aryan  stock,  descending 
from  the  Teutonic  branch  of  the  Aryan  family,  which  has 
achieved  more  than  any  other  branch  of  this  great  family,  and 
representing  an  admixture  of  all  the  virile  offshoots  of  this 
dominant  branch,  the  American  people  can  boast  of  a  great 
ancestry. 


AMERICA 

Second,  America's  Environment. —  At  the  start,  let  it  be  said 
that  nearly  all  the  achievements  of  history  which  occupy  an 
important  place  in  world  annals  have  taken  place  in  the 
temperate  zone,  and  of  all  nations  the  United  States  possesses 
the  most  favorable  location  in  the  temperate  zone  for  the 
development  of  a  great  civilization.  Gladstone  once  said  that 
"  America  has  a  natural  base  for  the  greatest  continuous  empire 
ever  established  by  mankind."  The  strategic  position  of 
America  is  indicated  by  the  following  facts :  "  The  United 
States  faces  the  two  great  oceans;  so  does  Canada;  but  with 
that  exception  there  is  no  other  commanding  nation  that  has 
a  great  coast-hne  on  both  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans. 
With  many  miles  of  coast-line  on  the  East,  America  looks 
forward  toward  the  history-making  nations  of  the  past. 
Westward  she  faces  the  sea  upon  which  look  out  the  eyes  of 
one-half  the  human  race,  where  life  is  all  athrob  with  the  new 
awakening."  The  eight  great  nations  that  have  been  con- 
spicuous in  world  achievements  during  the  past  century  are 
Great  Britain,  Germany,  the  United  States,  France,  Italy, 
Austria-Hungary,  Russia  and  Japan.  The  coast  line  of  the 
United  States  is  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  other  seven 
nations  combined.  "  The  United  States  is  the  nearest  com- 
manding power  to  the  undeveloped  parts  of  the  world.  The 
great  undeveloped  regions  are  the  Canadian  Northwest, 
Alaska,  Siberia,  Australia, .  South  America,  Africa."  Besides, 
the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal  has  added  amazingly  to 
the  great  preponderance  already  possessed.  "  The  United 
States  has  many  great  harbors.  Not  one  of  the  nations  of 
Europe  has  more  than  two  or  three  great  harbors;  several  of 
them  have  none.  Russia  is  too  far  north.  Germany  is  at  a 
disadvantage  because  she  has  no  direct  access  to  the  Atlantic. 
Great  Britain  commands  that  ocean.  The  United  States  has 
several  harbors  on  the  east  coast,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the 
south,  while  on  the  west  coast  there  are  two  of  the  most 
important  harbors  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  opening  into 
the  Pacific  Ocean  —  San  Francisco  Bay,  where  come  and  go 
the  navies  of  the  world,  and  Puget  Sound,  the  Mediterranean 

3 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

of  America,  with  its  1,500  miles  of  coast-line.  The  Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica  says  that  the  Mississippi  River  with  its 
branches  affords  35,000  miles  of  navigable  waterway.  All 
Europe  has  17,000  miles,  or  less  than  one-half  the  length  of 
the  great  central  waterway  of  the  United  States.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  Napoleon  said,  '  The  nation  which  controls  the 
Mississippi  Valley  will  be  the  most  powerful  nation  on  earth.' " 
The  United  States  enjoys  "isolation  from  other  commanding 
powers.  The  favorable  location  of  the  United  States  for 
internal  development  is  equaled  by  no  other  nation  in  the 
world,  because  of  the  fact  that  it  is  separated  by  many  thou- 
sands of  miles  of  sea  from  the  other  powers  of  our  time."  ^ 

The  preceding  facts  coupled  with  the  two  facts  that  America 
can  supply  all  her  own  needs  and  is  by  virtue  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  guardian  of  the  whole  Western  Hemisphere,  lead  to 
the  belief  that  from  the  standpoint  of  environment  America 
is  facile  princeps  among  the  nations  of  earth. 

Third,  America's  Life. —  Most  of  the  early  inhabitants  of 
America  came  to  this  country  during  the  two  great  upheavals 
in  Europe  that  have  contributed  so  much  to  modern  civiliza- 
tion, viz.,  the  Reformation  and  the  English  Revolution.  Now, 
these  two  upheavals  having  been  not  local  but  European 
events,  and  their  purposes  having  been,  in  the  case  of  the 
Reformation,  to  secure  religious  liberty,  and  in  the  case  of 
the  Revolution,  to  obtain  primarily  political  liberty,  it  can  be 
readily  seen  that  the  two  ideas  that  dominated  the  early 
colonists  of  the  United  States  were  religious  and  political 
liberty.  With  these  two  ideas  in  the  very  warp  and  woof  of 
their  natures  and  having  in  their  new  homes  the  major  tasks 
of  overcoming  the  Indians,  conquering  the  wilderness,  estab- 
lishing orderly  governments  and  constructing  a  new  society, 
the  pioneer  Americans  developed  into  a  people  strong  of  body, 
magnificent  in  initiative,  proud  of  their  religious  freedom  and 
loving  political  liberty.  With  the  beginning  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  America  entered  upon  a  new  era  in  her  national 


^  The  several  quotations  of  this  paragraph  are  from  "  The  Call  of  the 
World,"  W.  E.  Doughty,  pp.  67,  68,  69. 


AMERICA 

life.  Her  first  duty  was  to  free  herself  from  a  tyrannous 
foe  and  this  duty  was  well  performed.  Thereafter  she  under- 
took the  building  of  a  constitution,  which,  if  democracy 
proves  to  be  the  regnant  tendency  of  future  civilization,  will 
mark  one  of  the  epochs  of  world  progress.  From  the  adoption 
of  the  federal  constitution  down  to  the  present  time,  two  facts 
stand  out  in  bold  relief  in  the  nation's  life.  One  is  the  preser- 
vation of  the  union,  which  involved  decades  of  controversy 
and  a  great  civil  war,  and  the  second  is  the  splendid  achieve- 
ments of  an  aggressive  people  in  taking  possession  of  the 
greatest  country,  from  the  standpoint  of  material  resources, 
under  the  sun.  This  record  of  a  people,  now  one  hundred 
million  strong,  indicates  that  America  has  lived  a  clean  life. 

Fourth,  America's  Training. —  No  other  nation  on  earth, 
during  the  past  generation,  not  even  the  English  nation,  has 
responded  so  sympathetically  to  ideas  that  have  world  signifi- 
cance. In  every  field  of  human  endeavor.  America's  interest 
has  gone  beyond  the  local.  It  is  America  that  has  had  the 
big  share  in  causing  the  world  to  become  a  contracting, 
shrinking  world,  because  never  in  human  history  was  there 
such  a  marvelous  demonstration  of  inventive  and  scientific 
achievement  as  characterized  the  last  century  in  the  United 
States.  America  has  also  had  a  large  share  in  the  wonderful 
work  of  making  plastic  all  the  peoples  of  earth,  preparing 
them  to  be  molded  into  more  perfect  images  of  the  Creator. 
Moreover,  freed  from  the  fear  inspired  by  covetous  neighbors 
and  stimulated  by  the  greatest  inheritance  of  ideas  that  have 
ever  filled  the  mind  and  heart  of  a  people,  America  has  been 
a  nation  of  peace,  contentment  and  prosperity.  America  has 
no  great  problems  to  solve  such  as  the  Civil  War  settled. 
There  are  plenty  of  problems  to  keep  the  nation  busy  for 
generations  to  come,  but  the  point  especially  to  be  noted  is 
that  America  for  a  period  of  half  a  century  has  had  an 
abundance  of  surplus  mental  energy  to  give  to  the  larger 
problems  having  world-wide  significance,  such  as  the  gospel- 
izing  of  all  peoples,  discovering  the  hitherto  undiscovered 
portions  of  the  earth,   investigating   from   many  standpoints 

5 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

all  the  peoples  and  countries  of  the  earth,  pushing  commerce 
to  the  ends  of  the  world,  relieving  world  suffering  through 
great  international  organizations  and  the  like.  And  all  this 
has  fitted  America  for  world  leadership  without  the  taint  of 
selfishness,  the  greed  of  gain  and  the  ambition  of  dominancy. 
America  has  been  trained  for  a  great  task.  God  made  the 
Hebrews,  twenty  centuries  before  Christ,  the  medium  through 
which  He  gave  the  world  Christianity.  Is  He  today  making 
America  the  lever  whereby  humanity  will  be  raised  to  a 
higher  plane  in  world  civilization? 

Fifth,  America's  Condition. —  From  the  standpoint  of  finance, 
America,  of  all  the  nations  of  earth,  is  now  supreme  and  bids 
fair  to  continue  so  indefinitely.  While  the  other  great  powers 
have  with  reckless  hand  been  wasting  their  substance,  America 
has  been  gaining  a  relatively  stronger  position  because  of 
their  waning  strength,  and  at  the  same  time  increasing  her 
possessions  owing  to  an  unusual  demand  for  the  things  she 
has  to  sell.  A  short  time  ago,  one  of  the  papers  had  a  cartoon 
representing  Uncle  Sam  appearing  at  the  door  of  his  house 
and  finding  on  the  steps  a  little  baby  in  a  basket  labeled 
"  Financial  Supremacy."  Behind  a  tree  appeared  the  half- 
starved  mother  labeled  "  Europe,"  who  was  waiting  to  see  if 
Uncle  Sam  would  take  her  baby  in.  Of  course.  Uncle  Sam 
took  it  in.  The  recent  organization  of  a  fifty-million-dollar 
corporation  in  America  to  take  care  of  international  interests 
rather  indicates  that  "  Financial  Supremacy  "  will  be  adopted 
by  Uncle  Sam  and  not  returned  to  its  mother.  Furthermore, 
the  Great  War  has  put  to  the  test  her  whole  people  from  the 
standpoint  of  philanthropy.  Never  before  has  a  nation  re- 
sponded so  magnificently  to  the  call  of  a  suffering  world  as 
has  this  nation  during  the  Great  War.  Men  and  women  by 
the  thousands  have  given  themselves  to  all  the  warring  nations 
for  purely  humanitarian  purposes,  and  those  who  have  stayed 
at  home  have,  with  a  prodigal  hand,  contributed  of  their  surplus 
to  mitigate  as  far  as  possible  the  suffering  of  many  millions 
of  innocent  families  made  destitute  by  the  war.  At  the  same 
time,  on  all  hands,  efforts  have  been  made  to  drag  America 

6 
% 


AMERICA 

into  the  maelstrom  of  the  war,  but  the  collective  conscience 
and  wisdom  of  her  people  have  enabled  her  steadily  to  pursue 
the  even  tenor  of  the  way  of  neutrality.  On  several  occasions 
America  has  suffered  indignities  at  the  hands  of  some  of  the 
belligerent  nations,  but  she  has  kept  ever  in  view  the  great 
duty  that  the  next  generation  will  impose  upon  her,  and  if 
she  is  able  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  the  New  Era 
with  clean  hands  her  service  to  mankind  will  be  all  the 
greater.  So,  because  of  her  expanding  wealth,  her  aggressive 
humanitarian  activities,  her  patience,  endurance  and  charity 
during  many  trying  days,  America  is  in  the  pink  of  condition 
for  any  world  duty  that  may  await  her. 

Sixth,  America's  Faith. —  D'Annunzio  has  written  most 
beautifully  of  the  New  Italy,  and  says,  among  other  things, 
that  the  ideal  of  the  New  Italy,  in  its  future  endeavors,  is  a 
"  maximum  of  individual  and  collective  power."  ^  What  an 
inspiring  motto  this  is  for  a  nation,  and  does  not  the  trend 
of  affairs  in  recent  years  in  America  indicate  that  it  also  fits 
perfectly  into  her  ambitions?  There  has  been  a  resurgence 
of  faith  from  ocean  to  ocean  and  from  the  lakes  to  the  gulf. 
She  has  set  herself  some  herculean  tasks  and  her  faith  that 
these  tasks  will  be  accomplished  is  great.  In  the  missionary 
field  the  slogan  is,  "  The  world  for  Christ  in  this  generation." 
It  takes  faith  of  a  very  high  order  to  believe  that  this  aspira- 
tion will  come  to  fruition.  But  there  is  little  doubt  that  by 
the  close  of  this  generation  all  peoples  of  earth  will  have 
heard  the  gospel  of  the  Savior  of  Men.  In  the  temperance 
field  the  slogan  is,  "A  dry  nation  in  1920."  Already  nineteen 
states  have  adopted  prohibition  and  all  the  other  states  of  the 
Union  are  partially  dry,  whereas  less  than  a  generation  ago 
almost  the  whole  temperance  map  of  the.  nation  was  black. 
With  great  zeal  the  people  are  warring  against  impurity, 
making  efforts  to  bring  Christ  into  the  business  world  that 
labor  and  capital  may  become  partners,  endeavoring  to  solve 
the  slum  problem  of  the  cities  and  the  isolation  problem  of 
the  country,  while  scores  of  other  problems  are  engaging  the 


1  See  The  Literary  Digest,  October  9,  191 5,  p.  774. 

7 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

best  thought  of  the  natron,  and  the  faith  of  all  who  are  active 
in  the  work  of  an  uplift  character  is  of  the  mountain-top 
variety.    With  such  a  faith  mountains  can  be  moved. 

Let  other  countries  glory  in  their  past, 

Our  country  glories  in  her  days  to  be, 

In  her  horizons,  limitless  and  vast, 

Her  plains  that  storm  the  senses  like  the  sea; 

She  has  no  ruins  gray  that  men  revere  — 

Her  time  is  now,  her  heritage  is  here. 

Anyone  who  has  read  the  preceding  paragraphs  will  con- 
clude that  the  writer  is  an  optimist.  He  is  indeed,  but 
not  so  extreme  an  optimist  as  Pat,  who  was  heard  to  exclaim 
on  plunging  past  the  tenth  story  of  a  twenty-story  New  York 
building,  from  the  top  floor  of  which  he  had  just  fallen  — 
"  All  right,  so  far !  "  Rather  he  is  an  optimist  of  the  Brown-  \ 
ing  variety,  believing  that  "  God's  in  his  heaven,  all's  right 
with  the  world."  There  is  no  question  that  "  all's  right  with 
the  world."  From  the  time  God  spoke  to  Abraham,  nearly 
forty  centuries  ago,  the  destinies  of  the  peoples  of  earth  have 
been  in  the  hands  of  Almighty  God,  and  he  who  possesses  a 
discerning  mind  can  see  the  hand  of  God  in  the  affairs  of 
men  all  through  these  millenniums.  Now,  the  American 
people  is  not  perfect,  nor  is  it  anywhere  near  perfect.  But  it 
may  be  contended  that  it  is  fundamentally  sound.  While  the 
American  nation  as  a  whole  reveals  a  number  of  imperfections 
that  cause  the  pessimist  to  cry  out  in  his  despair  that  it  is 
doomed,  nevertheless  beneath  the  imperfections  there  is  a 
heart  that  beats  true  and  pumps  good  red  blood  through  a 
sound  body,  there  is  a  conscience  that  is  becoming  more  and 
more  sensitive  to  the  promptings  of  divinity,  there  is  a  mind 
possessed  of  a  world  vision  and  there  is  a  will  that  is  destined 
to  rule.  America  is  on  the  threshold  of  the  world's  greatest 
era,  and  in  that  era  may  the  American  people,  one  hundred 
million  strong,  be  the  Moses  that  will  guide  the  one  and  one- 
half  billion  souls  of  earth  toward  the  Promised  Land ! 

Sir  Gilbert  Parker  recently  said :    "  We  shall  be  wise  if  we 
8 


AMERICA 

keep  ever  in  mind  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  must 
sooner  or  later  be  the  vast  controlling  factor  in  the  destinies 
of  modern  nations.  There  is  population,  there  is  wealth,  and 
there  is  character." 

One  ship  drives  East,  another  drives  West, 
While  the  selfsame  breezes  blow; 
Tis  the  set  of  the  sails,  and  not  the  gales. 
That  bids  them  where  to  go. 

Like  the  winds  of  the  sea  are  the  currents  of  earth. 
As  we  journey  along  through  life; 
'Tis  the  set  of  the  soul  that  decides  the  goal, 
And  not  the  storms  that  are  rife. 

Is  not  the  "  set  of  the  soul "  of  America  the  creation  of  a 
great  Christian  world  civilization? 

In  the  first  half  of  this  chapter  have  been  sounded  some 
encouraging  notes.  In  the  latter  half  a  few  minor  chords 
will  be  struck.  Today  America  is  half  city  and  half  country. 
In  round  numbers  there  are  fifty  million  inhabitants  in  her 
cities  and  fifty  million  inhabitants  in  the  country.  One  thing 
is  absolutely  certain  and  that  is  the  two  populations  must  be 
in  more  or  less  perfect  equipoise  or  development  will  be  one- 
sided. No  harm  would  be  done  if  in  the  course  of  time 
America  should  become  almost  exclusively  an  agricultural 
nation,  which  the  great  French  writer,  Jules  Meline,  in  his 
book,  ''The  Return  to  the  Land,"  prophesies  will* eventually  be 
the  future  of  all  the  nations,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  two 
things  which  have  made  some  of  the  nations  of  the  world 
industrial  are  rapidly  being  exhausted  —  coal  and  iron.  But 
if  in  the  course  of  time  America  should  emphasize  too  greatly 
the  industrial  side  of  her  national  development  and  continue 
to  agglomerate  populations  in  ever-growing  metropolitan  cen- 
ters, a  crisis  might  be  precipitated  that  would  retard  progress. 
So  the  great  problem  is  keeping  in  balance  urbs  and  rus. 
Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  tendency  of  the  present  time  is 
a  rapid  increase  of  the  population  of  the  cities  and  a  very  slow 

9 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG       . 

increase  of  the  population  of  the  country,  taking  the  nation 
as  a  whole,  the  urban  increase  having  been  three  times  as 
great  as  the  rural  increase  between  1900  and  1910.  In  many 
parts  of  the  country  there  has  for  two  or  three  decades  been 
a  gradual  decrease,  in  the  rural  population.  Some  maintain 
that  America  has  already  gone  too  far  and  that  there  will 
have  to  be  a  migration  of  people  to  the  country  or  the  nation 
will  be  confronted  with  a  very  serious  situation  in  the  near 
future.  Others,  again,  are  of  the  opinion,  that  the  nation  is 
still  safe  and  that  the  migration  from  country  to  city  can 
continue  much  longer,  without  doing  the  nation  as  a  whole 
any  grave  injury.  Taking  a  middle  ground,  one  may  possibly 
assume  that  the  country  is  in  no  immediate  danger,  but 
greater  efforts  must  be  put  forth  in  the  future  to  maintain 
the  equilibrium  between  the  two  populations,  or  dire  results 
will  surely  follow. 

Another  fact  of  cardinal  importance  is  this :  the  cities  of  the 
nation  must  come  to  have  a  more  sympathetic  understanding 
of  the  pountry,  so  that  a  more  perfect  cooperation  may  be 
developed  between  the  two  populations.  There  was  a  time, 
and  that,  too,  not  very  many  decades  ago,  when,  owing  to  the 
miraculous  rise  of  the  cities,  partially  at  the  expense  of  the 
country,  rural  life  sank  to  a  low  level.  In  the  early  days 
of  this  period  the  city  not  only  preyed  upon  the  country 
almost  as  heartlessly  as  the  baron  robbers  of  the  feudal  days 
preyed  upon  the  cities  of  that  day,  but  so  great  became  the 
contempt  of  the  rising  cities  for  the  degenerating  country 
that  Rural  America  fell  into  disfavor.  But  fortunately  that 
period  is  past,  never,  it  is  believed,  to  return  again,  and  rural 
life  is  now  on  the  up-grade.  The  important  matter  is  that 
there  should  be  a  perfect  mutual  understanding,  and  that  each 
population  should  work  out  its  own  destiny,  having  the  sym- 
pathy, the  good  wishes  and  the  encouragement  of  the  other, 
since  the  two  ought  to  constitute  a  perfect  unity. 

A  careful  study  of  Urban  America  and  Rural  America  re- 
veals at  least  four  major  perils  in  each  one.  The  four  major 
perils  of  the  city  are  race  admixture,  inefficient  government, 

10 


AMERICA 

handicaps  to  physical  and  mental  development,  and  spiritual 
atrophy. 

(i)  Race  Admixture. —  Prof.  E.  A.  Ross  says:  "As  one 
traverses  the  gamut  that  leads  from  farms  to  towns,  from 
towns  to  cities  and  from  little  cities  to  big,  the  proportion  of 
American  stock  steadily  diminishes,  while  the  foreign  stock 
increases  its  representation  until  in  the  great  cities  it  consti- 
tutes three-fourths  or  even  four-fifths  of  the  population."  ^ 
The  time  was  when  the  vast  majority  of  the  immigrants  to 
America's  shores  were  Teutons.  But  in  recent  years,  especially 
during  the  years  when  the  cities  have  enjoyed  their  most 
phenomenal  growth,  the  bulk  of  the  immigrants  have  come 
from  nations  not  of  Teutonic  origin.  Naturally,  if  the 
Teutonic  group  of  nations  belong  to  the  first  class,  most  of  the 
other  nations  and  races  must  be  farther  down  in  the  scale  of 
civilization.  So  inevitably  an  inferior  admixture  in  American 
metropolitan  life  lowers  the  type  of  the  composite  individual 
that  represents  Urban  America.  Therefore,  the  great  question 
of  the  Urban  half  of  America  is,  whether  from  the  crucible 
of  time  a  citizenship  will  emerge  which  will  have  within  it 
the  possibiHties  of  a  higher  development  than  are  found 
among  purely  homogeneous  peoples.  America  is  conducting 
experiments  today  that  have  a  most  vital  bearing  on  the  his- 
tory of  civilization.  If  in  God's  good  time  it  is  shown  that  a 
superior  people  assimilating  less  superior  peoples  drops  to 
lower  levels,  then,  for  a  time,  at  least,  the  American  nation  will 
be  obliged  to  play  a  less  important  role  in  world  affairs. 

(2)  IneiRcient  Government. —  No  less  an  authority  than 
James  Bryce  says  American  municipal  governments  are  fail- 
ures. Possibly  the  best  governed  cities  of  the  world  are  the 
cities  of  the  German  Empire.  It  is  a  matter  of  record  that 
there  are  fifteen  hundred  towns  and  villages  in  Germany  that 
derive  sufficient  revenue  from  the  land  they  own  to  exempt 
the  citizens  from  all  local  taxes.  One-third  of  these  are  so 
fortunate  that  they  are  able  to  declare  annual  dividends  of 
from  $20  to  $100  to   the   citizens.     Two   fundamental    facts 


^  See  The  Century,  New  York,  December,   19 13,  p.  229. 

II 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

explain  the  wonderful  records  of  German  cities:  one  is  the 
strong  feeling  that  every  resident  has  with  reference  to  the 
general  welfare;  the  other  is  that  in  all  cases  the  people  come 
into  possession  of  the  things  that  belong  to  them.  The 
absence  of  these  two  fundamental  facts  in  Urban  America 
explains  the  dismal  record  of  the  municipal  governments  of 
the  nation.  When  once  the  point  is  reached  of  subordinating 
the  individual  to  the  whole  body  of  citizens  and  of  transferring 
to  the  people  those  values  that  result  from  collectivity,  then 
Urban  America  will  have  taken  a  long  step  forward.  The 
tax  rates  of  American  cities  have  in  many  instances  risen  so 
high  in  recent  years  that  further  increases  will  jeopardize 
their  very  life.  And  bond  issues  have  been  made  with  such  a 
prodigal  hand  that  the  aggregate  debt  of  Urban  America  has 
reached  staggering  proportions.  The  Detroit  Free  Press  has 
the  following  to  say  on  municipal  extravagance : 

"  Receiverships  for  cities  are  a  novelty  for  this  generation 
in  our  municipal  history,  but  Nashville  has  come  to  that  low 
ebb  of  civic  affairs,  and  there  is  talk  now  of  having  a  receiver- 
ship for  Montreal.  When  the  blindly  reckless  course  of 
financing  by  municipalities  is  considered,  the  wonder  is  not  so 
much  that  we  have  one  or  two  open  bankruptcies  among  our 
cities,  but  that  we  are  not  having  a  long  series  of  such 
disastrous  and  disgraceful  failures.  The  tendency  is  pro- 
gressive, however;  a  little  more  time  and  receivers  will  be 
numerous  enough. 

"  Think  for  a  minute  of  the  financial  status  of  some  of  our 
American  cities.  New  York,  with  a  population  estimated  at 
5,625,000,  has  a  net  debt  of  $757,705,000,  or  about  $134  per 
capita.  Boston  has  some  746,000  people  and  owes  $83,969,000, 
which  is  about  $111  per  capita.  New  Orleans  has  400,000 
people  and  its  debt  is  $37,753,ooo,  or  about  $94  per  capita. 
Baltimore's  583,000  population  owes  $52,780,000,  or  about  $90 
each.  Montreal  owes  about  $78,000,000  and  estimates  its  popu- 
lation at  600,000,  so  that  its  per  capita  debt  is  about  $130, 
which  puts  quite  enough  burden  on  its  shoulders  to  raise 
doubts  as  to  its  capacity  to  carry  the  load.  Nashville,  already 
K  12 


AMERICA 

in  the  receivership,  is  much  better  off,  having  130,000  people 
to  support  a  pubhc  debt  of  about  $7,000,000,  or  $53  each. 

"But  if  a  community  which  ovires  only  $53  per  capita  finds 
itself  unable  to  avoid  bankruptcy,  as  Nashville  did,  how  long 
will  it  be  before  our  other  heavy-laden  cities  with  debts  of 
$100  and  more,  run  their  course  of  extravagance  and  find 
themselves  brought  up  sharply  by  their  creditors?  There  is 
a  definite  end  to  recklessness  for  communities  as  well  as  for 
individuals.  It  is  quite  time  that  all  our  American  dwellers 
in  cities  were  heeding  the  warning  plainly  written  all  about 
them  and  were  settling  themselves  to  practice  old-fashioned 
frugality  and  thrift." 

(3)  Handicaps  to  Normal  Physical  and  Mental  Develop- 
ment.—  Rousseau  once  said  people  were  never  created  to  be 
huddled  together  like  ants  in  an  ant-hill.  In  recent  years  city 
populations  have  been  made  the  subject  of  the  most  painstak- 
ing study  by  sociologists  and  many  others,  and  some  startling 
conclusions  have  been  reached.  It  is  found  to  be  absolutely 
true  that  the  hurry,  noise,  confusion,  strenuosity  and  the  like 
of  the  city  are  gradually  impairing  the  physical  vigor  of  the 
American  people.  ,  Innumerable  authorities  might  be  quoted 
and  this  one  paragraph  might  be  expanded  into  a  book  to 
prove  this  point.  It  is  also  found  to  be  absolutely  true  that 
city  life  in  its  complexity  is  detrimental  to  intellectual  develop- 
ment. The  mind,  to  develop  normally,  needs  two  things : 
quiet  and  leisure.  Both  are  rarae  aves  in  Urban  America. 
Finally,  the  atmosphere  that  stimulates  the  development  of 
initiative  is  almost  absent  in  the  city  life  of  today.  The 
trend  of  the  times  has  effected  a  very  great  decrease  of  those 
who  lead  and  a  very  great  increase  of  those  who  are  led. 
To  illustrate :  there  is  one  city  bank  in  the  nation  that  has 
nearly  a  thousand  employees.  One  man  directs  the  affairs 
of  this  bank  with  possibly  a  half  dozen  official  subordinates. 
All  the  rest  are  cogs  in  a  great  machine;  and  cogs  do  not 
develop  initiative.  The  same  amount  of  capital  and  deposits 
divided  among  country  banks  would  be  sufficient  to  establish 
a    thousand    institutions.     The    thousand    institutions    would 

13 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

have  a  thousand  leaders  instead  of  half  a  dozen.  This  example 
is  typical  of  urban  commercial  and  industrial  life.  The  highest 
type  of  manhood  and  womanhood  cannot  be  developed  from 
a  machine-like  environment  and  such  is  the  prevailing  environ- 
ment in  the  cities. 

(4)  Spiritual  Atrophy. —  In  recent  years  there  have  been 
some  marvelous  revivals  of  religion.  But  in  every  case  v^here 
unusual  results  have  been  achieved  the  revivals  have  been 
preceded  by  the  most  painstaking  preparation  imaginable,  and 
have  been  conducted  by  an  organization  and  in  accordance 
with  a  system  that  have  proved  to  be  flawless.  The  forces  of 
righteousness  have  been  mobilized  to  the  last  individual  and 
only  forty-two  centimeter  guns  have  been  employed.  Further, 
the  laws  of  psychology  have  been  called  to  the  aid  of  those 
behind  the  revivals  in  so  dextrous  a  manner  that  the  almost 
impregnable  citadel  that  guards  the  emotional  nature  of  the 
composite  urban  resident  has  been  forced  to  capitulate.  It 
is  generally  recognized  that  so  great  has  become  the  spiritual 
atrophy  in  the  cities  that  only  efforts  of  a  most  unusual  char- 
acter can  bring  victory.  The  average  city  resident  seems  to 
live  near  the  surface,  to  borrow  an  expression  from  William 
James,  and  the  multiplicity  of  distractions  of  city  life  pre- 
vents his  frequent  retirement  into  the  sacred  chambers  of  his 
personality,  where  the  moral  nature  has  its  sanctuary.  This 
surface  life  causes  him  to  become  susceptible  to  the  influences 
of  materialism  and  therefore  makes  him  somewhat  unre- 
sponsive to  the  inner  voices. 

The  four  major  perils  of  Rural  America  are  low  agricultural 
standards,  absence  of  team-work,  dearth  of  rural  patriotism, 
and  growth  of  urban  ownership. 

(i)  Low  Agricultural  Standards. —  It  is  a  notorious  fact 
that  the  greatest  mining  operation  of  the  past  generation  has 
been  fertility  mining  in  the  United  States.  The  nation  has 
been  living  off  the  fertility  of  the  wonderful  soil  with  which 
God  has  blessed  this  continent.  The  census  report  tells  a 
sad  story  of  agricultural  conditions.  Countless  acres  have 
been   absolutely  abandoned  because  their   fertility  has  been 


AMERICA 

reduced  to  such  an  extent  that  the  land  can  be  restored  to 
agricultural  health  only  after  a  long  and  costly  period  of 
convalescence.  Furthermore,  the  loss  of  fertility  is  general 
in  the  nation.  And  what  is  saddest  of  all,  the  nation  has  been 
speeding  along  under  the  hypnotic  influence  of  a  great  de- 
lusion. The  wonderful  reports  of  yields  have  lulled  almost 
all  the  people  into  the  belief  that  American  agriculture  is 
enjoying  fundamental  progress.  The  great  mania  of  the 
American  people  has  been  to  sacrifice  everything  on  the  altar 
of  present  gain.  The  magnificent  forests  of  a  few  years  ago 
are  almost  all  gone,  mines  are  being  exhausted,  and  worst  of 
aJl,  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  decreasing,  and  all  this  is  taking 
place  coincidentally  with  a  rapidly  increasing  population.  The 
Banker-Farmer  says,  America  must  "  create  a  soil  as  well  as 
a  bank  reserve." 

(2)  Absence  of  Team-work. —  Someone  has  said  the  present 
age  is  the  age  of  the  apotheosis  of  the  middle  man,  and  this 
is  certainly  true.  Somewhere  between  the  producer  of  the 
nation  and  the  ultimate  consumer,  there  is  lost  a  sum  of 
money  so  immense  that  it  staggers  the  most  fertile  imagina- 
tion. It  is  known  with  absolute  certainty  that  the  producer 
receives  only  a  pittance  of  what  the  consumer  is  obliged  to 
pay,  and  the  consumer  pays  an  infinitely  greater  sum  than  the 
producer  is  able  to  get.  Where  does  this  tremendous  sum 
go?  Ask  the  middle  man.  The  farmer  is  an  individualist; 
his  very  occupation  contributes  to  an  individualistic  develop- 
ment; he  has  scarcely  got  beyond  the  first  stage  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  cooperative  spirit.  And  yet  the  only  possibility  on 
earth  of  bringing  the  producer  and  the  consumer  closer  to- 
gether is  by  means  of  a  more  perfect  cooperation  in  the  field 
of  the  producer.  In  the  fall  of  1915  a  certain  Ohio  farmer 
received  thirty  cents  a  bushel  for  his  apple  crop  delivered  at 
the  station  four  miles  distant.  At  the  same  time  there  was 
possibly  not  a  large  city  in  the  country  where  good  apples 
could  be  bought  for  less  than  seventy-five  cents  a  bushel. 
This  typical  case  represents  the  problem  that  Rural  America 
must   solve   if    she   is   to   enjoy   further   economic   progress. 

15 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

According  to  The  Banker-Farmer,  "  The  city  man  gets  only 
about  thirty-five  cents  in  value  for  every  dollar  he  spends  for 
food,  and  it  takes  the  rest  of  that  dollar  to  get  the  food  to 
him." 

(3)  Dearth  of  Rural  Patriotism. —  "  Truly  the  creation  of 
a  rural  civiHzation  is  the  greatest  need  of  our  time."  ^  But 
before  a  rural  civilization  can  be  created  there  must  be  more 
rural  patriotism.  Let  a  rural  patriotism  be  developed  and 
then  many  of  the  wonderful  things  which  the  country  needs 
so  much  that  it  may  enjoy  greater  progress  and  realize  the 
infinite  possibilities  that  it  covets,  will  come.  The  greatest 
hindrance  to  the  development  of  a  rural  patriotism  is  that 
very  prevalent  and  quite  contagious  disease,  urbanitis.  It  is 
an  insidious  disease  and  has  become  so  widespread  that  one 
is  often  tempted  to  despair  of  its  elimination.  It  especially 
aflfects  country  boys  and  girls,  who,  awed  by  the  brilliant,  the 
ephemeral,  the  attractive,  the  dazzling  of  city  life,  are  weaned 
away  from  the  country  in  large  numbers  every  year  and  cast 
their  lot  in  the  cities.  Pride  in  one's  residence  in  Rural 
America  must  become  general  and  all  inclination  to  emphasize 
the  city  to  the  detriment  of  the  country  must  disappear  before 
a  new  day  can  dawn  in  Rural  America.  When  the  average 
resident  of  Rural  America  says,  "  I  am  a  citizen  of  Rural 
America,"  with  the  earnestness  and  fervor  which  the  average 
Englishman  or  German  shows  when  he  announces  his  citi- 
zenship to  the  world,  then  will  there  have  developed  a  rural 
patriotism  which  will  revolutionize  Rural  America. 

(4)  Growth  of  Urban  Ownership. —  It  is  remembered  that 
the  Roman  Empire  was  a  coalition  of  cities.  There  was  no 
rural  life.  The  land  was  owned  by  those  living  in  the  cities 
and  tilled  by  the  slaves.  This  was  a  chief  cause  of  Rome's 
fall.  The  first  leader  of  Europe  who  recognized  the  fact  that 
the  strength  of  a  nation  depended  on  its  rural  health  was 
Charlemagne,  the  greatest  ruler  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Fred- 
erick the  Great,  who  reconstructed  Prussia  on  the  solid  basis 


1  See  G.  W.  Russell  article,  Rural  Manhood,   New  York,  April,  1914. 
p.  143. 

16 


AMERICA 

of  a  flourishing  and  contented  rural  population,  was  another 
such  leader.  During  the  ten  years  between  1900  and  1910  the 
home  owners  of  Rural  America  decreased  and  landlords  in- 
creased one  per  cent.  Edward  Everett  Hale  once  said,  "  Who 
ever  heard  of  a  man  fighting  for  his  boarding-house?"  It  is 
the  home  that  causes  a  man  to  shoulder  his  gun.  And  the 
home  in  the  country  is  as  sacred  as  the  home  in  the  city. 
Now,  any  reader  of  this  book  who  has  owned  land  at  a 
greater  or  less  distance  from  his  residence  and  is  dependent 
on  renters,  knows  from  bitter  experience  what  a  tenant  nation 
would  mean.  And  if  he  has  had  experience  with  renters  who 
have  later  become  home  owners  in  the  country,  he  has  noted 
the  wonderful  difference  and  is  in  a  position  to  deplore  the 
trend  of  America  toward  tenantry.  It  is  a  step  toward  an 
American  peasantry,  a  step  toward  a  decrease  of  population, 
a  step  toward  rising  prices,  a  step  toward  the  supremacy  of 
Urban  Life  and  the  submergence  of  Rural  Life,  a  step  toward 
ultimate  ruin. 

Fortunately,  anyone  may  have  a  part  in  the  work  of  elimi- 
nating the  perils  (possibly  "  race  admixture  "  is  not  a  peril 
per  se)  that  are  today  jeopardizing  both  Urban  and  Rural 
America.  But  he  must  dedicate  himself  to  the  task  with  no 
thought  of  pecuniary  reward.  From  the  beginning  down  to 
the  present  time  there  is  possibly  no  record  of  a  single  achieve- 
ment in  elevating  the  human  race  that  has  been  prompted  by 
the  mercenary  spirit  and  brought  to  fruition  under  the  stimu- 
lus of  financial  gain.  And  not  only  may  everyone  have  a 
part  in  the  great  work  which  is  so  diversified  in  character 
that  there  is  room  for  all  kinds  of  talent,  but  one  need  not 
seek  far  to  find  plenty  to  do.  How  aptly  Charles  Wagner 
expresses  this  thought :  "  A  common  weakness  keeps  many 
people  from  finding  what  is  near  them  interesting;  they  see 
that  only  on  its  paltry  side.  The  distant,  on  the  contrary, 
draws  and  fascinates  them.  In  this  way  a  fabulous  amount 
of  good-will  is  wasted.  People  burn  with  ardor  for  humanity, 
for  the  public  good,  for  righting  distant  wrongs,  they  walk 
through  life,  their  eyes  fixed  on  marvelous  sights  along  the 

17 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

horizon,  treading  meanwhile  on  the  feet  of  the  passersby,  or 
jostling  them  without  being  aware  of  their  existence."  ^ 

A  certain  Sunday-school  teacher  in  a  Kansas  village 
through  a  long  period  of  years  has  sent  out  into  the  world 
scores  of  boys  who  have  been  shining  lights  in  the  establishing 
of  the  Kingdom.  Her  influence  through  the  godly  young- 
men  will  never  die  and  will  lead  to  achievements  that  God 
alone  can  estimate.  Not  long  ago,  a  very  capable  and  success- 
ful teacher  in  a  rural  school,  receiving  $50  a  month  and 
having  a  little  farm  home  near  his  school,  was  offered  $150  a 
month  to  take  a  position  in  a  city  school.  He  refused  to 
leave  the  country.  The  Rhodes  scholar  of  South  Carolina 
who  spurned  the  city  appointments  and  dedicated  his  life  to 
the  rural  church  of  the  South  will  be  a  shining  example  in 
generations  to  come  of  the  principle  of  losing  one's  life  to 
save  it.  Instances  might  be  multiplied.  The  faithful  Sunday- 
school  teacher,  the  rural  pedagogue  and  the  Rhodes  scholar, 
untouched  by  mammonism  and  taking  the  work  nearest  at 
hand,  are  having  a  share  in  the  great  work  of  producing  a 
higher  civilization.  The  task  is  not  an  easy  one.  The  path- 
way that  leads  to  a  higher  civilization  is  rugged  and  steep, 
and  the  words  of  Ibsen's  Brand  apply  to  all  who,  with  their 
eye  on  the  summit,  struggle  toward  the  goal: 

What  will  you  gain?     A  will  that's  whole, 

A  soaring  faith,  a  single  soul; 

The  willingness  to  lose,  that  gave 

Itself  rejoicing  to  the  grave; 

A  crown  of  thorns  on  .every  brow. 


1  Charles  Wagner,  "  The  Simple  Life,"  p.  61. 


18 


CHAPTER  II 
RURAL  AMERICA 

THE  life  of  the  man  who  would  do  a  great  work  must 
be  whole  and  integral.  The  only  complete  life  that 
this  world  has  produced  was  that  of  Jesus  Christ,  which 
reveals  six  major  elements:  play,  work,  worship,  health,  love, 
and  rest.^ 

Play:     Anything  that  one  does  out  of  pure  love. 
Work:     Anything  that  one  does  with  serious  effort. 
Worship:    Attuning  oneself  to  the  Infinite. 
Health:     The  perfect  adjustment  of  mind  and  body. 
Love:     The  greatest  feeling  of  the  heart. 
Rest:     Recuperation  through  repose. 

Play. —  A  study  of  the  gospels  leads  one  to  infer  that  Christ 
better  than  any  other  person  realized  that  the  play  instinct, 
next  to  that  of  self-preservation,  is  the  strongest  instinct  in 
human  nature.  "  From  early  childhood  to  old  age  the  spirit 
of  play  runs  flashing  like  a  mountain  brook  through  the  life 
of  a  man.  Tossing  free  on  the  hillsides  of  youth  or  gently 
rippling  the  surface  in  the  lower  valleys,  it  outlasts  the  jour- 
ney, brightening  all  the  way.  Seldom  mentioned  in  the  records 
of  His  life,  but  clearly  leaping  in  the  consciousness  of  Jesus, 
it  stands  revealed  in  His  perfect  love  of  children,  in  whose 
spontaneity  and  freshness  of  feeling  He  rejoiced."  2  Like 
the  great  creative  intellects,  who  have  been  rightly  and 
healthily  sensitive  to  every  kind  of  pleasure,^  Jesus  was  not  an 
ascetic.     He  was  a  thorough  believer  in  the  sunshine  of  life 


^  This  classification  was  suggested  by  the  six  paintings  of  C.  S.  Pearce: 
Family,  Religion,  Labor,  Study,  Recreation,  Rest.  (See  also  **  What  Men 
Live  By  "  by  Dr.  R.  C.  Cabot.) 

2  Richard  H.   Edwards,  "  Christianity  and  Amusements,"  p.  22. 

*  Philip  G.  Hamerton,   "  The  Intellectual  Life,"  p.  64. 

19 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

and  His  disciples  were  a  joyous  company.  What  a  message 
of  glad  tidings  He  gave  to  the  world!  How  radiant  with 
good  cheer  are  some  of  His  sayings !  Play  may  be  considered 
the  brilliant  strand  of  the  great  fabric  of  Christianity,  of 
which  the  life  of  the  lowly  Nazarene  is  the  warp  and  woof. 

Work. —  Christ  believed  thoroughly  in  work.  He  started 
life  as  a  carpenter  and  thus  dignified  labor  with  the  hands. 
There  is  no  record  of  the  years  during  which  His  energies 
were  devoted  to  the  trade  of  His  choice,  but  His  wonderful 
ministry  indicates  that  He  did  His  whole  duty  during  those 
silent  years  of  preparation  for  His  life  work.  No  other 
assumption  is  tenable  when  one  studies  His  later  achieve- 
ments. One  of  the  greatest  preachers  of  the  present  time 
spent  a  number  of  years  in  quiet  preparation  for  life's  duties, 
and,  as  a  result,  he  is  today  a  power  in  the  whole  Christian 
world.  While  other  young  men,  their  college  work  finished, 
at  once  plunged  into  the  strenuous  life,  thus  bringing  to  an 
end  the  growth  which  needs  quiet  and  leisure,  this  young  man 
•  spent  a  few  years  in  further  preparation.  Fenelon,  writing  on 
Eloquence,  advises  against  allowing  oneself  early  in  life  to 
become  involved  in  engagements  and  recommends  one's  re- 
maining in  retirement  until  the  powers  are  matured.  Joseph 
Cook,  it  is  remembered,  spent  many  years  in  developing  the 
great  powers  of  his  mind.  But  his  debut  was  brilliant  and 
he  exerted  great  influence  in  the  intellectual  world  till  his 
death.  The  silent  years  have  prepared  the  greatest  men  of 
all  time  for  their  world  tasks.  One  may  be  sure  the  silent 
years  of  Christ's  life  were  years  of  conscientious  preparation. 
And  the  three  years  that  followed  His  silent  years  are  the 
most  brilliant  in  point  of  human  achievement  in  the  annals  of 
history. 

Worship. —  The  purpose  of  Christ's  coming  among  men  was 
to  establish  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  And  this  Christ 
did  during  His  brief  ministry.  But  the  one  thing  that  stands 
out  in  bold  relief,  so  clear-cut  that  its  luster  grows  brighter 
with  the  passage  of  the  centuries,  is  Christ's  attitude  on 
worship.     How  imperfectly  is  the  word  worship  understood 

20 


RURAL  AMERICA 

in  its  true  significance !  One  often  hears  of  a  parent  worship- 
ing a  child  or  a  husband  worshiping  a  wife,  or  vice  versa; 
but  how  little  depth  has  the  finite  feeling  compared  with  that 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Christ  has  given  to  all  humanity  a  beautiful 
example  of  worship  and  His  followers  are  exalted  only  to 
the  extent  to  which  they  approximate  unto  the  perfection  of 
His  worship.  Here  and  there  through  the  centuries  there 
have  been  called  out  from  the  crowd  men  upon  whom  God 
has  conferred  special  blessings.  But  in  every  case  those  thus 
honored  have  enjoyed  the  most  intimate  fellowship  with  the 
Father.  The  only  way  one  can  come  to  a  more  adequate  un- 
derstanding of  real  worship  is  through  a  more  perfect  com- 
prehension of  the  relationship  that  existed  between  the  Son 
and  the  Father. 

Health. —  If  ever  there  lived  a  man  who  believed  in  good 
health,  that  man  was  Jesus  Christ.  From  a  study  of  the  New 
Testament,  one  notes  that  Christ  lived  in  a  time  when  the 
human  race  was  fearfully  afflicted.  There  was  no  such  thing 
as  medical  science  in  those  days,  so  it  was  quite  natural  that, 
with  practically  no  means  of  relieving  bodily  pain,  the  ills  of 
mortals  should  fill  the  age  with  suffering.  How  much  of 
Christ's  ministry  was  spent  in  healing  the  sick  and  ministering 
to  the  distressed!  But  in  the  midst  of  all  His  manifold 
service  there  is  no  record  of  His  having  been  ill  a  single  day 
in  His  whole  life.  Christ  knew  as  no  other  man  has  ever 
known  the  value  of  a  sound  body.  So  all  His  life  must  have 
been  devoted  to  the  task  of  keeping  Himself  fit  physically,  as 
well  as  otherwise,  for  the  great  tasks  that  the  Father  had 
given  Him  to  do.  This  must  have  been  true  or  He  would  not 
have  used  the  words  recorded  in  John  17:4,  "I  have  finished 
the  work  which  Thou  gavest  me  to  do."  Charles  Wagner 
says,  "  Only  simple  and  natural  living  can  keep  a  body  in  full 
vigor."  1  Also,  "  What  material  things  does  a  man  need  to 
live  under  the  best  conditions?  A  healthful  diet,  simple 
clothing,  a  sanitary  dwelling  place,  air  and  exercise."  2   Charles 


1  Charles  Wagner,  "  The   Simple  Life,"  p.  68. 

2  Charles  Wagner,   "  The  Simple  Life,"  p.  68. 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

Wagner  must  have  been  thinking  of  the  life  of  Christ  when 
he  thus  expressed  himself. 

Love. —  The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  founded  on  love. 
The  highest  instinct  of  humanity,  in  fact  of  the  whole  animal 
world,  is  that  of  self-preservation,  and  yet  so  great  was 
Christ's  love  for  humanity  that  He  gave  His  life  for  its 
redemption.  The  greatest  sacrifice  that  was  possible  for  Him 
He  willingly  made.  All  Christians  agree  with  Drummond 
that  love  is  the  greatest  thing  in  the  world.  Next  to  Chris- 
tianity, the  most  aggressive  religion  on  earth  is  Mohammedan- 
ism, a  religion  of  force.  Yet  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
for  many  centuries  these  two  religions  have  been  striving  for 
world-mastery,  the  ideal  of  the  one  being  love  and  that  of 
the  other  force,  Christianity  has  made  the  more  rapid  prog- 
ress. Ever  since  the  Middle  Ages,  Christianity  has  been  driv- 
ing Islam  from  Europe  and  the  likelihood  is  that  some  day 
every  vestige  of  it  will  have  disappeared  from  the  continent. 
And  just  as  Right  always  triumphs  over  Wrong  in  the  end, 
even  though  Right  may  be  on  the  scaffold  and  Wrong  on  the 
throne,  so  the  Religion  of  Love  is  bound  to  triumph  over  the 
Religion  of  Force.  "  God  standeth  within  the  shadow  keeping 
watch  above  His  own." 

Rest. —  Christ  engaged  in  a  very  active  life  during  His 
three  years'  ministry  and  He  often  found  it  necessary  to 
withdraw  from  the  stirring  scenes  of  His  work,  and  even 
from  the  companionship  of  His  disciples,  and  seek  repose. 
He  found  it  necessary  to  renew  His  strength  at  intervals 
that  He  might  always  be  at  His  best  in  doing  the  work  that 
His  father  had  given  Him  to  do.  The  Germans  have  a  word 
that  has  no  equivalent  in  the  English  language.  It  is  Menschen- 
muede,  and  it  means,  "  tired  of  people."  One  is  thrown 
almost  constantly  into  contact  with  people  in  his  daily  work 
and  often  longs  to  get  away  into  some  quiet  retreat  where  he 
can  be  absolutely  alone  with  his  thoughts.  This  was  many 
times  the  feeling  of  Jesus.  And  He  needed  this  self-com- 
munion that  He  might  be  better  fitted  for  life's  duties.  He 
also  needed  physical   rest  each  day.     Although  Jesus  knew 

22 


RURAL  AMERICA 

that  His  sojourn  on  earth  would  be  short,  yet  His  whole  life 
was  a  continuous  training  for  longevity.  So  both  at  intervals 
and  daily,  He  sought  repose,  and  as  a  result  He  was  always  in 
perfect  condition  physically. 

The  highest  ideal  of  the  American  people  is  to  make  the 
National  Life  whole  and  integral.  What  is  being  done  in 
Rural  America  toward  the  accomplishment  of  this  great  end, 
will  be  considered  in  the  remainder  of  this  chapter  under  the 
six  heads  —  Play,  Work,  Worship,  Health,  Love  and  Rest. 

Before  undertaking  this  delightful  task,  however,  it  might 
be  well  to  decide  just  what  Rural  America  is.  Of  course  all 
persons  living  in  the  country  are  rural  residents,  as  are  all 
persons  living  in  the  hundreds  of  small  villages  and  towns 
of  the  nation.  But  to  divide  larger  centers  of  population  into 
two  arbitrary  classes  and  say  that  all  places  with  a  population 
of  so  many  thousand  shall  be  called  cities  and  all  other  places 
shall  constitute  a  part  of  Rural  America,  would  be  unscien- 
tific, for  the  reason  that  centers  of  population  differ  greatly 
in  different  parts  of  the  country.  This  general  statement  may 
be  made :  Rural  America  consists  of  the  farming  communi- 
ties of  the  nation  and  all  centers  of  population,  regardless  of 
size,  that  are  more  dependent  on  the  surrounding  country 
for  their  livelihood  than  on  manufacture  and  industry. 

Now,  in  Urban  America  there  is  only  one  unit  —  the  city.  In 
Rural  America,  on  the  other  hand,  owing  to  the  factor  of 
distance,  there  are  several  units,  the  four  most  important  of 
which  are  the  county,  the  township,  the  school  district,  and 
the  village.  Besides  these,  there  are  numerous  arbitrary 
units,  the  classification  depending  on  the  unifying  element. 
Of  all  the  units  found  in  Rural  America,  the  county  has  come 
into  greatest  prominence  within  recent  years,  and  the  reason 
for  this  is,  it  is  best  adapted  to  the  realization  of  progressive 
ideals.  The  nation  has  in  round  numbers  3,000  counties,  of 
which  2,500  are  rural,  and  among  the  2,500  there  are  200  that 
have  no  incorporated  villages.  The  3,000  counties  have  been 
divided  into  three  classes :  those  which  have  very  large  cities, 

23 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

and  in  which  there  is  a  tendency  to  make  county  and  city 
boundaries  coterminous ;  those  which  have  one  or  more  cities 
that  dominate  the  activities  of  their  respective  counties,  and 
in  which  the  tendency  is  to  correlate  city  and  county  functions 
in  such  a  way  that  both  cities  and  counties  may  enjoy  the  most 
efficient  government;  and  those  in  which  the  county  govern- 
ment dominates  the  county.  Now,  standardization  is  possible 
among  cities,  since  all  cities  are  very  much  alike  and  have 
for  the  most  part  the  same  problems.  So  with  all  the  munici- 
palities of  the  nation  concentrating  their  best  efforts  on  the 
solution  of  their  common  problems,  each  municipanty  can 
take  advantage  of  the  investigations  and  profit  by  them. 
Counties  cannot  do  this  to  the  same  extent,  since  the  2,500 
rural  counties  of  the  nation  differ  in  so  many  respects. 

The  tendency  among  rural  counties  is  twofold:  to  transfer 
to  state  governments  some  of  the  old  county  functions  and  to 
reduce  to  simplicity,  for  the  sake  of  economy  and  efficiency, 
those  that  are  retained.  Moreover,  many  counties  are  giving 
special  attention  to  agencies  that  have  to  do  with  the  develop- 
ment of  a  higher  average  citizenship.  To  illustrate:  counties 
are  beginning  to  tax  themselves  under  state  laws  to  establish 
county  libraries,  county  hospitals,  county  health  agencies, 
county  agricultural  agencies,  county  experiment  farms  and  the 
like,  and  are  encouraging  such  institutions  as  County  Y.  M.  C. 
A.'s,  County  Y.  W.  C.  A.'s,  County  W.  C.  T.  U.'s  and  county 
church  and  school  associations,  and  under  the  stimulus  that 
comes  from  industrial,  commercial,  philanthropic  and  other 
organizations,  both  without  and  within,  are  making  progress 
in  many  directions. 


1.  Play 

The  greatest  asset  of  a  nation  is  its  children  and  the  most 
important  problem  of  a  nation  is  preparing  its  children  for 
the  responsibiHties  and  duties  of  later  life.  Now  it  is  only 
within  the  last  few  years  that  these  two  facts  have  become 
assertive  in  the  collective  consciousness  of  the  American 
people,  and  hence  the  work  of  providing  adequate  opportuni- 
ties for  the  normal  development  of  childhood  into  adulthood 
is  yet  in  its  incipiency.  The  child  in  its  life  "  repeats  the  age- 
long struggle  of  mankind  upward  from  savagery  to  civiliza- 
tion," 1  and  unless  all  the  stages  of  the  struggle  are  experienced 
normal  growth  is  not  enjoyed  and  the  adult  is  handicapped. 

During  the  first  centuries  following  the  fall  of  Rome, 
savagery,  barbarity,  robbery,  murder,  license,  wanderlust,  in- 
stability and  turbulence  were  very  much  in  evidence.  Finally, 
however,  the  seething  mass  of  humanity  of  Europe  gradually 
began  to  take  on  a  more  or  less  permanent  form  and  some 
semblance  of  order  manifested  itself.  The  individual  stepped 
out  from  the  crowd  and  Feudalism  resulted,  during  the  ascend- 
ancy of  which  Europe  produced  an  aristocracy  of  leadership. 
A  few  more  centuries  and  the  Crusades  came  and  welded 
Europe  into  a  unit  under  the  stimulus  of  the  religious  impulse. 
Then  followed  the  German  Reformation,  which  gave  Europe 
religious  liberty,  and  the  French  Revolution,  which  gave 
Europe  poHtical  liberty.  Today  the  battle  cry  of  mankind  is 
economic  liberty,  the  right  of  each  individual  "  to  a  place  in 
the  sun." 

How  beautifully  the  development  of  modern  civilization 
parallels  the  growth  of  the  child  into  the  adult!  First,  the 
turbulent  years  of  youth,  the  years  of  savagery,  barbarity,  the 
days  of  a  superabundance  of  vitality  and  energy,  the  days  of 
the  "wild  joy  of  living,"  the  days  of  foundation-laying  and 


^  G.  Walter  Fiske,  "  Boy  Life,"  p.  49. 
25 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

character-building,  the  days  of  elemental  passions,  correspond- 
ing to  the  life  of  the  European  people  directly  after  the  fall 
of  Rome.  Then  begins  to  assert  itself  that  wonderful  faculty, 
the  imagination,  which  has  no  sympathy  with  the  hard,  tan- 
gible, practical,  matter-of-fact  things  of  earth,  but  builds  a 
world  of  magnificent  unreality  and  fills  it  with  a  life  which 
the  average  adult  fails  utterly  to  understand:  Feudalism. 
Then  comes  the  religious  impulse  and  the  child  enters  upon 
the  battle  royal  for  character:  Crusades.  Next  a  feeling  of 
spiritual  self-sufficience  develops,  which  indicates  a  desire  for 
independent  thought  in  religious  matters :  German  Reforma- 
tion. Then  the  will  comes  to  its  own  and  assumes  control : 
French  Revolution.  And  finally  appears  the  desire  to  establish 
a  home  of  one's  own :  Economic  Liberty.  Now  to  the  extent 
to  which  the  child  passes  through  these  periods  in  its  develop- 
ment from  childhood  to  adulthood,  to  that  extent  is  it  fitted 
for  the  complete  life. 

Harnessing  the  energies  of  the  youth  of  the  nation  during 
the  developing  years,  is  a  big  problem.  North  Carolina  has  a 
splendid  plan  for  keepiiig  its  boys  busy.  During  the  summer 
boys  who  wish  to  work  out  of  doors  at  reasonable  wages  are 
employed  by  the  state  and  learn  how  to  build  good  roads. 
From  the  New  York  State  College  of  Agriculture  it  is  learned 
that  last  year  school  children  destroyed  nearly  a  billion  tent 
caterpillars.  They  collected  over  four  million  egg  masses  of 
the  pest,  each  of  which  averaged  two  hundred  eggs.  One 
school  of  thirteen  pupils  collected  55,525  of  these  egg  clusters 
and  thus  saved  countless  apple,  peach  and  plum  trees  from 
blight.  Reports  from  other  states  are  similar  to  these  from 
North  CaroHna  and  New  York.  Only  two  things  are  needed 
—  competent  leadership  and  work  that  will  appeal  with  a  spice 
of  romance  to  the  youth  of  the  nation,  and  results  will  be 
forthcoming. 

A.  Play  Grounds 

Reahzing  the  first  fundamental  needs  of  childhood,  some  of 
the  good  people  of  Boston,  in  the  year  1882,  started  a  play- 

26 


RURAL  AMERICA 

ground  movement,  which  has  been  called  the  greatest  single 
movement  of  the  nation.  The  purpose  of  the  movement  is, 
extending  to  child  life  an  adequate  opportunity  to  give  the 
play  instinct  normal  expression.  The  movement  was  inau- 
gurated at  a  time  when  the  process  of  urbanizing  America 
was  rapidly  transforming  the  nation's  life.  But  a  period  of 
inactivity  followed,  which  closed  with  a  wonderful  revival  of 
interest  in  the  city  of  Chicago  in  1898,  since  which  time  the 
playground  movement  has  become  a  dominant  factor  in 
American  life.  The  movement  has  gathered  wonderful  mo- 
mentum in  later  years  because  playgrounds  are  proving  to  be 
agencies  for  decreasing  juvenile  crime,  increasing  health 
standarjds,  promoting  community  spirit,  and  fashioning  into 
unity  heterogeneous  urban  populations.  They  have  become 
both  a  constructive  and  a  redemptive  force  and  are  contrib- 
uting to  a  brighter  national  outlook  on  life.  The  boy  or  girl 
who  enjoys  a  normal  play  life  during  the  formative  years  is 
sure  to  be  an  optimist.  If  a  man  or  woman  can  look  back  to 
a  childhood  that  had  its  share  of  play  activities,  the  experi- 
ences of  youth  are  a  source  of  perennial  joy  and  pleasure  and 
the  dark  places  of  the  later  years  are  brightened  by  the 
reflection  from  life's  brilliant  beginnings.  Once  a  Harvard 
graduate  who  had  not  made  a  very  pronounced  success  out  in 
the  great  world  consoled  himself  with  the  memory :  "  Well, 
anyway  I  achieved  a  triumph  in  my  student  days  on  the  base- 
ball diamond."  The  victory  of  his  youth  saved  him  from 
discouragement  in  the  days  when  fortune  turned  her  back  on 
him.  And  so  it  will  save  the  youth  of  the  nation  in  the  next 
generation. 

B.  Boy  Scouts  and  Camp-Fire  Girls 

Two  great  organizations  may  be  associated  with  the  Play- 
ground Movement  of  the  nation,  viz.,  the  Boy  Scouts  and  the 
Camp-Fire  Girls.  The  former  had  its  origin  at  the  time  of 
the  Boer  War  and  developed  from  the  practical  use  made  of 
boys  during  the  progress  of  the  South  African  struggle.  In 
reality  a  beginning  in  the  great  work  of  putting  on  a  happier 

27 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

basis  boy  play  activities  was  made  in  this  country,  but  the 
Boy  Scout  Movement  enjoyed  marvelous  popularity  in  Eng- 
land and  her  colonies  following  the  Boer  War,  and  the  organ- 
ization that  is  in  such  a  flourishing  condition  in  this  country 
today  was  imported  from  England  after  that  country  had 
developed  an  American  idea.  The  Camp-Fire  Girl  Movement 
had  its  origin  only  a  few  years  ago  in  this  country  and  was 
started  that  girls  might  have  the  same  opportunity  for  normal 
development  along  recreational  lines  as  boys.  These  two 
movements  have  become  nation-wide  and  they  are  today  on 
so  sound  a  basis  that  they  have  become  a  permanent  factor  in 
the  national  life.  If  a  boy  becomes  a  scout  or  a  girl  a  camp- 
fire  girl  and  they  obey  the  rules  and  master  the  requirements 
of  the  respective  organizations,  there  is  no  doubt  that  they 
will  learn  the  duties  and  develop  the  fundamental  virtues  use- 
ful in  after  life.  So  the  purpose  of  each  organization  is  to 
make  youth  the  brightest  period  of  life  at  the  same  time  that 
preparation  is  afforded  for  adulthood.  There  are  many  other 
organizations  similar  to  these  two,  but  not  so  well  known,  all 
aiming  to  provide  adequately  for  the  play  needs  of  boys  and 
girls. 

Now,  the  unfortunate  thing  about  the  three  movements  that 
have  just  been  considered  is  that  they  have  made  compara- 
tively little  progress  in  Rural  America.  One  hears  little, 
though  much  more  than  formerly,  of  playground  activities, 
boy  scouts  and  camp-fire  girls  in  the  villages  and  open  country, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  more  than  half  the  children  of 
the  nation  live  in  Rural  America.  These  movements  have  been 
urban  movements,  but  there  is  just  as  great  need  of  them  in 
Rural  America.  In  a  sense,  the  need  is  greater  in  Rural 
America,  for  the  reason  that  the  play  activities  of  Urban 
America  have  become  an  added  inducement  for  boys  and  girls 
to  leave  the  farms  and  the  villages  for  the  cities.  As  Dr.  G.  W. 
Fiske  felicitously  characterized  the  situation  in  an  address  at 
the  Ohio  State  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Convention  of  1916,  *'  It  is  not  so 
much  dollar-hunger  as  fun-hunger  that  takes  boys  from  the 
country  to  the  cities." 

28 


RURAL  AMERICA 

C.  Play  Parks 

Not  only  playgrounds  without  number  have  been  established, 
especially  in  the  cities,  but  a  beginning  has  been  made  in  the 
matter  of  play  parks,  with  stands  and  suitable  buildings. 
These  parks  provide  for  all  the  games  that  interest  both 
young  and  old,  and  arrangements  have  been  made  in  some  of 
them  for  winter  as  well  as  summer  sports,  since  recreation 
must  be  an  all-the-year-round  affair.  Parks  of  this  sort 
encourage  the  organization  of  game  leagues  of  various  sorts, 
which  bring  young  people  together  from  neighboring  town- 
ships, villages  and  cities  in  all  kinds  of  contests.  There  is  no 
reason  why  neighboring  counties,  townships,  villages  and  cities 
should  not  organize  in  the  interest  of  sports  and  thus  put  the 
sport  life  of  whole  sections  on  a  high  plane.  Simply  a  begin- 
ning has  been  made  in  the  sport  activities  of  the  youth,  not 
only  in  Rural  America,  where  least  progress  has  been  made 
owing  to  many  handicaps,  but  in  Urban  America  as  well.  A 
German  school-teacher  in  one  of  the  trenches  recently  made 
the  statement  that  the  Germany  of  the  future  must  make 
more  ample  provision  for  organized  out-of-door  play,  for  the 
sake  of  the  future  physical  fitness  of  the  young  manhood  of 
the  nation,  if  for  no  other.  England  and  America  have 
possibly  done  more  in  this  direction  than  any  other  nation, 
excepting  Switzerland,  and  their  boys  and  girls  have  in  a 
majority  of  cases  as  a  result  laid  a  good  foundation  for 
longevity. 

D.  Rural  Entertainment  Halls 

A  movement  coming  to  have  increasing  significance  in  recent 
months  has  to  do  with  rural  entertainment  halls,  where  all 
kinds  of  productions  can  be  given,  but  particularly  where  such 
productions  can  be  presented  as  are  of  special  interest  in  the 
country,  and  where  moving  pictures  of  the  better  class,  be- 
cause of  the  availabihty  of  pictures  and  films  at  very  low 
prices,  can  Hkewise  be  shown.  Of  course  rural  entertainments 
must  compete  with  attractions  in  towns  and  cities,  but  with 
the  growing  spirit  of  loyalty  that  is  beginning  to  assert  itself 

29 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

in  Rural  America,  there  will  come  to  be  little  trouble  in  holding 
the  people  in  their  own  communities. 

E.  The  County  Fair 

The  county  fair,  which  is  annually  held  in  many  counties 
of  the  United  States  and  seems  to  be  growing  more  popular 
in  Rural  America,  is  the  one  big  play  event  of  the  year  for 
the  open  country.  It  is  the  one  event  in  which  all  the  people 
take  an  interest.  It  assembles  the  best  products  of  field  and 
garden;  it  interests  the  women  and  girls  in  choice  specimens 
of  the  art  of  cooking;  it  exhibits  the  finest  farm  animals;  it 
shows  many  samples  of  needle  and  similar  work;  it  collects 
the  select  wares  of  the  merchant;  it  gives  the  results  of  the 
county  educational  activities :  school  work,  library  work, 
chautauquas,  institutes,  etc.;  it  calls  attention  to  the  efforts 
put  forth  in  the  interest  of  a  better  religious  life  —  efforts  put 
forth  in  the  churches,  in  the  Sunday-schools,  in  the  Young 
Peoples'  societies,  in  social  service,  etc.;  it  provides  an  abund- 
ance of  amusement.  The  county  fair  promotes  sociability, 
stimulates  rural  patriotism  and  leads  to  cooperation.  From 
one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other  the  cry  has  gone  forth 
that  the  greatest  need  of  the  nation  is  a  more  wholesome 
social  life  in  Rural  America.  The  county  fair  is  doing  its 
part  in  supplying  this  need  and  it  does  it  by  showing  the 
people  both  the  pleasures  and  the  advantages  of  getting  to- 
gether. Furthermore,  anyone  who  spends  the  better  part  of 
a  week  in  a  study  of  the  best  things  that  his  county  produces 
is  pretty  sure  to  have  kindled  on  the  altar  of  his  heart  the  > 
fire  of  county  patriotism.  And  where  one  finds  a  developing 
social  life  and  evidences  of  county  patriotism,  one  is  likely  to 
see  the  cooperative  spirit  begin  to  manifest  itself.  When  the 
county  fair  reflects  the  collective  life  of  the  county  at  its 
best,  it  is  doing  a  work  whose  value  cannot  be  estimated.^ 


^  Lowering  of  standards  through  cheap  attractions,  permitted  for  mer- 
cenary reasons,  is  a  tendency  to  be  deplored  in  some  counties. 


30 


RURAL  AMERICA 

F.  Community  Centers 

A  term  one  sees  in  almost  every  number  of  every  periodical 
devoted  to  the  interests  of  Rural  America  is  "  community 
center."  Again  and  again  do  editors  and  other  writers  empha- 
size the  need  of  the  establishing  of  community  centers  in  the 
villages  and  open  country.  And  the  propaganda  in  the  interest 
of  their  establishment  is  bearing  fruit.  Of  course,  wherever 
a  consolidated  school  is  erected,  provision  is  made  for  com- 
munity gatherings,  and  the  institution  is  planned  to  take  care 
of  all  the  many  activities  of  the  surrounding  country. 
Churches  also  make  excellent  meeting  places  for  the  people. 
Unfortunately  the  cooperating  or  federating  or  unionizing  of 
the  dead  and  dying  churches  of  the  different  denominations 
of  Rural  America  has  made  such  little  progress  that  the  Rural 
Church  is  doing  less  than  the  Rural  School  in  the  work  of 
putting  social  life  in  the  country  on  a  higher  plane. 

Often  farmers  bequeath  beautiful,  well-located  properties 
for  the  benefit  of  a  whole  neighborhood.  There  is  a  record 
of  a  number  of  such  cases,  particularly  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  The  Chicago  Tribune  recently  contained  the  follow- 
ing interesting  item:  "  With  the  purpose  of  making  rural  life 
more  comfortable,  Jasper  Thompson,  banker,  farmer,  philos- 
opher, and  philanthropist,  has  turned  over  to  the  rural  com- 
munity in  which  he  lives  a  community  home.  Four  miles  west 
of  Forest  City,  in  Winnebago  County,  la.,  on  a  farm  valued 
at  $100,000,  the  community  home  is  located.  In  the  front  is 
a  valley  of  the  richest  agricultural  land,  fringed  with  oak, 
walnut  and  box  elder.  The  building  is  of  artistic  design, 
built  of  brick  and  concrete.  In  the  building  are  large  halls, 
comfort  rooms,  reception  rooms,  library,  sleeping  rooms,  living 
rooms,  dining-room  and  kitchen.  '  Sunnyside  Farm '  is  the 
name  given  to  this  social  center.  It  belongs  to  the  people,  and 
it  is  theirs  to  build  up  a  community  friendliness  that  will 
make  for  a  more  happy  and  contented  people." 

But  the  largest  number  of  community  centers  are  found  in 
the  Httle  agricultural  villages  of  the  nation.  A  village,  to- 
gether with  the   contiguous   territory,   has  enough  people  to 

31 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

maintain  on  a  most  healthy  basis  a  community-center  building 
fitted  to  take  care  of  all  activities  for  which  such  buildings 
are  erected.  The  state  that  has  taken  the  lead  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  community  centers  is  Wisconsin.  The  community 
building  at  Spring  Valley,  a  village  of  one  thousand  inhabit- 
ants in  Pierce  County,  is  typical.  It  is  50  x  100  in  dimensions 
and  cost  $7,388.  The  building  is  used  for  the  folloviring 
purposes : 

"  Entertainments,  shows,  plays,  moving  pictures,  entertain- 
ment courses  of  the  extension  division  of  the  state  university, 
school  plays,  amateur  theatricals,  banquets  and  suppers,  har- 
vest festivals,  political  meetings,  good  roads  meetings,  farm- 
ers' institutes,  dancing  parties,  art  exhibits,  band  practice, 
orchestra  practice,  meetings  of  the  town  and  country  club, 
public  receptions,  social  parties." 

During  the  past  few  years  many  manufacturing  plants  and 
large  business  concerns  have  erected  community  buildings. 
Some  of  these  are  solely  for  employees,  while  others  are  quite 
liberal  in  the  matter  of  extending  the  privileges  of  member- 
ship. Of  special  interest  is  the  fact  that  such  community 
buildings  are  becoming  more  numerous  in  the  rural  districts 
and  encourage  the  residents  of  the  farming  sections  to  become 
members.  The  most  widely  known  of  this  class  is  the  large 
community  building  of  the  Hershey  Chocolate  Company,  of 
Hershey,  Pennsylvania. 

G.  The  Rural  Chautauqua 

Most  persons  are  quite  familiar  with  the  great  Chautauqua 
movement  of  the  nation.  It  has  not  been  so  many  years  since 
Chautauqua,  New  York,  inaugurated  the  movement  that  has 
become  nation  wide.  In  the  early  years,  however,  only  a  few 
institutions  similar  to  that  in  New  York  were  established,  but 
gradually  the  number  increased,  and  finally  the  larger  towns 
and  many  of  the  cities  began  to  provide  annually  for  a  week 
or  more  of  entertainments  under  the  auspices  of  a  Chautauqua 
Association.  The  villages  seemed  to  be  too  small  to  finance 
a  Chautauqua  program.    But  as  time  passed,  as  the  Chautau- 


RURAL  AMERICA 

qua  spirit  began  to  take  possession  of  the  whole  people  and 
as  the  agencies  supplying  the  talent  found  ways  of  providing 
courses  of  great  excellence  within  the  financial  reach  of  the 
smallest  villages,  the  movement  became  quite  general,  and 
greater  and  greater  numbers  of  people  living  in  territory 
hitherto  unreached  have,  during  the  past  few  years,  been 
given  the  pleasure  of  enjoying  the  very  best  talent  of  the 
country  right  at  their  own  homes.  The  writer  took  a  long 
automobile  trip  during  the  summer  of  1915  through  many 
rural  sections  and  found  that  nearly  all  the  communities  of  a 
thousand  population  and  over  that  were  visited  were  adver- 
tising a  Chautauqua  Week.  The  Chautauqua  is  the  most 
democratic  institution  of  the  whole  nation  and  is  a  success 
because  it  has  found  out  just  what  pleases  the  people  and  is 
constantly  giving  the  people  the  very  thing  they  want. 

The  institutions  that  are  doing  the  largest  service  in  con- 
nection with  the  play  and  recreational  life  of  Rural  America 
are  the  rural  library,  the  rural  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation and  the  rural  Young  Women's  Christian  Association. 
All  three  likewise  emphasize  the  intellectual  and  the  spiritual, 
but  one  of  their  most  important  activities  lies  in  the  field  of 
play  and  recreation,  and  for  that  reason  they  are  considered 
under  the  head  of  PLAY. 

H.  The  Rural  Library  1 

The  trend  of  recent  years  in  the  library  activities  of  the 
country  has  been  toward  rural  extension,  with  the  idea  of 
placing  books  in  the  homes  of  those  on  the  farms  as  well  as 
of  those  living  in  the  towns  and  cities.  In  earher  years  books 
were  accessible  only  to  the  few.  Today  a  majority  of  the 
people  enjoy  library  privileges,  and  the  drift  of  library  legisla- 
tion in  the  several  states  indicates  a  purpose  to  make  provision 
for  the  country  people,  many  of  whom  still  have  no  opportuni- 
ties to  get  books,  except  through  purchase. 


1  Saida  B.  and  Ernest  I.  Antrim,  "  The  County  Library,"  pp.  233-239. 
140,  187. 

33 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

All  the  states  of  the  Union  have  state  libraries.  All  the 
states  except  a  very  few  have  library  commissions.  Available 
statistics  indicate  that  Wisconsin  spends  more  money  per 
capita  through  her  state  library  and  library  commission  than 
any  other  state  in  the  Union,  and  consequently  of  all  the 
states  does  most  for  her  people  in  library  matters.  One  of  the 
many  functions  of  state  library  commissions  is  the  organiza- 
tion and  management  of  traveling  library  systems.  Traveling 
libraries  are  usually  sent  in  small  collections  of  twenty-five  or 
fifty  volumes,  and  the  expenses  are  paid  wholly  or  in  part  by 
the  state  or  altogether  by  the  recipients.  Such  libraries  con- 
sist of  general  and  special  collections.  The  former  are  for 
the  most  part  available  for  all  the  people;  while  the  latter 
consist  largely  of  libraries  for  children,  for  foreigners,  for  the 
blind,  for  study  clubs,  for  granges,  for  public  and  private 
schools  and  for  Sunday-schools  and  churches.  Many  of  the 
states  send  out  annually  over  a  thousand  collections,  which  in 
the  aggregate  contain  a  large  number  of  books. 

Making  the  county  the  unit  represents  a  comparatively  new 
movement  in  the  library  history  of  the  country.  Yet  this 
movement  is  making  quite  rapid  progress.  There  are  at 
present  nineteen  states  that  have  county  library  laws,  and, 
as  far  as  can  be  learned,  there  are  103  county  libraries  serving 
the  library  interests  of  their  respective  counties.  The  names 
of  the  states  having  county  library  laws  are :  Ohio,  Wyoming, 
Wisconsin,  Oregon,  Nebraska,  New  York,  Iowa,  Minnesota, 
Tennessee,  Missouri,  California,  Maryland,  Washington,  Ken- 
tucky, North  CaroHna,  Montana,  Texas,  West  Virginia,  and 
Nevada;  and  the  county  libraries  by  states  are:  California, 
26;  Wisconsin,  14;  Wyoming,  13;  Minnesota,  10;  Ohio,  8; 
Oregon,  5;  North  Carolina,  4;  Missouri,  4;  New  York,  3; 
Kentucky,  2;  Montana,  2;  Indiana,  2;  Alabama,  2;  Colorado, 
2 ;  Washington,  i ;  Illinois,  i ;  Maryland,  i ;  Pennsylvania,  i ; 
Oklahoma,  i ;  and  Tennessee,  i.^ 

Many  incidents  might  be  given  showing  the  value  of  the 


-'^ 


Data  assembled  in   191 5. 

34 


RURAL  AMERICA 

extension  of  library  privileges  to  rural  residents.  Two  must 
suffice : 

In  a  county  library  collection  at  a  station  in  a  very  small 
village,  a  boy,  one  day,  chanced  to  secure  a  book  on  electricity 
and  became  so  interested  that  he  returned  for  another,  and, 
as  there  happened  to  be  three  books  on  electricity  in  that 
collection,  he  took  them  all  in  turn  and  then  begged  his 
father  to  send  him  aw^ay  to  school.  The  father  did  so  and 
the  young  man  is  doing  well  now  in  the  electrical  business  in 
one  of  the  larger  towns  of  the  county.  It  is  the  aim  of  the 
county  library  to  aid  those  living  in  the  country  to  appreciate 
the  wonderful  opportunities  for  pleasure  and  profit  that  lie 
within  the  ''  Home  Acre  "  or  the  "  Home  Ten  Acres  "  or  the 
"  Home  Farm."  However,  all  young  men  in  the  country  are 
not  fitted  for  farming  any  more  than  all  ministers'  sons  are 
fitted  to  become  ministers.  In  the  above  incident,  the  boy 
whose  bent  was  electricity  "  found  himself "  through  a 
library  book. 

The  following  incident  illustrates  the  personal  and  careful 
supervision  of  a  township  superintendent  in  connection  with 
the  schools  under  his  care.  He  told  the  county  librarian  he  had 
made  the  discovery  that  in  one  of  the  schools  the  boys  had 
got  into  the  way  of  reading  books  of  a  ''  blood  and  thunder  " 
type,  and  he  asked  her  opinion  as  to  how  the  matter  might  be 
best  handled.  She  wisely  suggested  that  he  satisfy  this  natural 
craving  of  the  boys  for  adventure  by  supplying  them  with 
wholesome  books  of  adventure  of  the  right  sort  and  on  sub- 
jects of  interest  to  every  normal  boy.  Accordingly,  a  list  was 
made  up  including  tales  about  Indians  and  the  real  West, 
stories  of  Daniel  Boone  and  the  pioneer  days,  inspiring  books 
of  true  heroism  and  real  exploits.  The  teacher  reported  that 
the  good  books  soon  displaced  the  "  cheap  literature." 

Of  all  the  county  library  states,  Ohio  is  the  pioneer  in  the 
present  county  library  movement,  and  California  has  the 
greatest  number  of  county  libraries.  Quite  a  number  of 
states  have  also  passed  township  library  laws,  which  enable 
the   people  of  townships   to   tax   themselves    for   library  pur- 

35 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

poses.  An  incident  illustrating  the  good  that  can  result  from 
township  extension  comes  from  Monoma  County,  Iowa.  A 
certain  township  librarian  in  this  county,  called  the  "  Horse- 
back Lady,"  has  so  extended  the  library  work  of  the  county 
in  accordance  with  the  township  law  of  the  state,  that  at  the 
present  time  six  townships  and  three  towns  are  cooperating 
under  her  efficient  supervision. 

"  Here  is  a  story  I  was  told  about  a  boy  reader  whom  the 
'  Horse-back  Lady '  has  visited.  Somebody  met  him  riding 
against  a  frightful  prairie  storm,  sleet  lashing  his  face.  *  Why 
on  earth  aren't  you  at  home — ^  somebody  sick?'  asked  the 
startled  friend,  who  was  making  for  his  own  dwelling.  '  I'm 
goin'  to  the  liberry,'  was  the  reply.  '  Someone  come  an'  tol' 
me  all  about  "  Tom  Sawyer  "  herself,  an'  I'm  goin*  to  have  it, 
I  ain't  froze  but  one  ear  yet,  an'  I  ain't  got  but  one  more  to 
freeze,  an'  anyhow  I'm  goin'  to  have  that  book.' "  ^ 

The  establishment  of  municipal  libraries  has  reached  the 
greatest  development  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  which 
"  is  unique  in  having  a  library  in  every  city  and  town  of  the 
state,  with  one  exception  —  Newbury  —  and  that  town  has 
library  privileges  in  Newburyport,  one  and  one-half  miles 
distant,  making  appropriation  toward  its  m.aintenance."  Many 
states  permit  their  municipal  libraries  to  do  rural  extension 
work,  which  is  greatly  increasing  the  number  of  country  resi- 
dents who  enjoy  library  privileges.  In  many  states,  too,  school 
district  libraries  are  being  established  in  large  numbers. 

Unquestionably  every  state  should  have  a  state  library  and 
a  library  commission.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  the  states  do 
have  state  libraries,  although  some  of  them  accomplish  much 
less  than  others.  All  the  states,  except  a  few,  have  library 
commissions.  Likewise,  it  would  seem  desirable  that  all  the 
states  should  have  county,  township  and  municipal  library 
laws  adapted  to  their  respective  needs.  No  two  states  are 
exactly  alike,  and  there  are  few  cases  where  the  laws  of  one 
state  would  fit  perfectly  into  the  conditions  of  another  state. 


1  See  The  Outlook,  January  24,  1914,  p.  202. 

36 


RURAL  AMERICA 

Some  states  desire  to  emphasize  the  county  as  a  unit  and  to 
adapt  all  libraries  organized  under  other  laws  to  the  county 
system.  Others  make  the  township  the  predominating  unit 
and  strive  to  bring  library  privileges  to  all  the  people  of  the 
state  through  township  extension.  Finally,  a  number  of  states 
make  the  municipality  the  library  center  and  bend  every  effort 
to  reach  as  many  of  the  people  as  possible  from  the  town  and 
city. 

Recent  experience  reveals  that,  of  the  library  laws  thus  far 
enacted,  the  county  law  seems  to  provide  best  for  the  exten- 
sion of  library  privileges  to  all  the  people.  And  a  careful 
study  of  library  movements  of  the  country  indicates  that  if 
all  the  people  are  to  be  reached  in  the  matter  of  library  serv- 
ice, the  county  should  be  made  the  unit  in  library  legislation. 
States  which  emphasize  the  other  library  laws  mentioned 
are  doing  excellent  work,  but  in  none  of  these  states  is  it 
likely  that  all  the  people  will  enjoy  library  privileges  to  the 
extent  that  would  be  possible  under  a  county  law. 

Andrew  Carnegie  has  asked  Dr.  P.  P.  Claxton,  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education,  to  work  out  for  him  a 
plan  for  the  establishment  of  county  libraries  throughout  the 
country.  So  it  is  possible  that  the  great  library  friend  of  the 
people  will,  as  the  crowning  act  of  his  life,  provide  with 
library  privileges  through  the  establishment  of  county  libraries 
all  the  people  of  Rural  America  who  desire  such  institutions. 

It  might  be  stated  here  by  way  of  conclusion  that  a  hasty 
study  of  the  library  legislation  of  the  country  covering  the 
past  twelve  or  fourteen  years  reveals  several  interesting  facts : 

(i)  A  tendency  to  make  state  libraries  more  serviceable. 

(2)  A  gradual  increase  in  the  number  of  state  library  com- 

missions and  in  the  appropriations  for  their  work. 

(3)  The  passage  of  many  measures  that  place  on  a  more 

substantial  basis  hundreds  of  the  libraries  of  the 
country  organized  under  county,  township  and 
municipal  library  laws. 

(4)  The  gathering  of  greater  and  greater  momentum  from 

year  to  year  of  the  rural  extension  library  movement. 

37 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

To  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  what  can  be  accompHshed  in 
the  supplying  of  a  rural  population  with  library  service,  a 
brief  account  will  be  given  of  the  work  of  the  Brumback 
Library  of  Van  Wert  County,  Ohio,  which  has  been  called 
the  pioneer  county  library  of  the  country.  In  a  county  of 
405  square  miles,  having  a  population  of  29,119,  of  whom 
12,825  live  in  incorporated  towns  and  16,294  in  the  open 
country,  this  library  with  25,000  books  distributed,  from  the 
central  library,  sixteen  branches  and  nearly  all  the  rural 
schools,  98,011  volumes  in  the  year  1915.  That  is  over  three 
1)Ooks  for  every  resident  in  the  county,  a  high  average  even 
for  a  city  library  having  a  compact  constituency.  The  num- 
ber of  borrowers  was  62  per  cent  of  the  population.  The  work 
at  central  library  was  done  by  six  employees,  including  the 
janitor,  and  the  total  cost  to  the  county  for  the  county-wide 
service  was  $8,858.38,  which  represents  less  than  one-fifth  of 
a  mill  on  a  tax  duplicate  of  over  $50,000,000  and  is  35  cents 
per  capita.i 

/.  Rural  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y,  W.  C.  A. 

Through  a  period  of  many  years  the  cities  of  the  country 
have  been  establishing  Christian  Associations  for  both  sexes, 
and  these  have  greatly  increased  in  number  during  the  past 
decade.  For  thousands  of  young  men  and  women  these  asso- 
ciations provide  good  homes,  good  board,  physical  training, 
social  and  recreational  pleasure,  and  spiritual  and  intellectual 
culture.  Thus,  they  are  doing  a  work  the  value  of  which 
cannot  be  estimated.  They  recognize  as  few  other  institu- 
tions do  that  life  is  whole  and  integral,  and,  without  giving 
undue  emphasis  to  any  particular  side  of  one's  nature,  they 
plan  their  work  with  the  view  of  developing  a  symmetrical 
manhood  and  womanhood. 

Now,  just  as  these  two  institutions  are  needed  in  the  cities, 
so  they  are  needed  in  the  country;  and  within  the  past  few 
years  wonderful  progress  has  been  made  in  the  establishing 


^  See  Annual  Report  of  The  Brumback  Library  of  Van  Wert  County 
for  1915. 


RURAL  AMERICA 

of  rural  associations.  The  unit  that  has  generally  been 
adopted  is  the  county,  since  experience  shows  the  futility  of 
attempting  to  carry  on  successful  work  with  smaller  rural 
units.  The  thing  that  has  proved  to  be  the  greatest  handicap 
in  rural  work  has  been  securing  men  and  women  living  in 
villages  and  in  the  open  country  and  widely  separated  from 
one  another  to  cooperate  in  an  enterprise  for  the  benefit  of 
a  whole  county.  This  requires  a  leadership  of  the  very 
highest  type.  The  average  county  resident  sees  certain  needs 
right  at  home,  but  his  vision  does  not  always  reach  far. 
His  inclination  is  to  let  the  other  village  or  township  or 
section  of  the  county  take  care  of  itself.  So  next  in  import- 
ance to  a  competent  leader  is  a  county  board  that  is  broad 
enough  to  see  beyond  the  borders  of  its  own  community,  to 
pay  liberally  for  the  support  of  the  whole  work  and  to  give 
of  its  time  in  an  effort  to  get  others  to  contribute  to  the 
work. 

The  county  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  has  an 
easier  time  in  becoming  established  in  rural  counties  than 
the  county  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  because 
everybody  recognizes  that  boys,  whose  work  lies  out  in  the 
world,  must  receive  attention  or  they  will  fail  to  develop  into 
men  of  character.  But  there  is  just  as  much  reason  why  girls 
should  have  the  same  opportunities  to  fit  themselves  for  the 
responsibilities  and  duties  of  life.  The  donor  of  the  first 
county  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  building 
(county  work  in  the  past  has  been  done  without  the  aid  of 
buildings)  put  a  large  sum  in  the  building,  equipment  and 
endowment  chiefly  because  of  his  conviction  that  better  girls 
would  make  better  boys.  And  there  is  a  world  of  truth  in 
this  statement.  The  one  thing  more  than  any  other  that  is 
safeguarding  this  nation  today  may  be  considered  the  collect- 
ive influence  and  the  high  ideals  of  the  finest  womanhood  of 
the  nation.  Every  man  who  stands  for  the  common  virtues 
freely  acknowledges  the  debt  he  owes  to  womanhood.  The 
greatest  poet  since  Shakespeare,  Goethe,  closed  his  master- 
piece "  Faust "  with  these  beautiful  words  :    "  Das  Ewigweib- 

39 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

liche  zieht  uns  hinan."  How  true  it  is,  that  "The  eternal 
feminine  leads  us  upward  and  onward."  So  to  the  extent  to 
which  the  womanhood  of  the  nation  is  placed  on  a  higher 
plane,  to  that  extent  is  the  manhood  of  the  nation  elevated. 

What  is  the  first  work  of  these  two  associations  in  the 
country?  A  complete  survey  of  the  particular  section  in 
which  they  will  be  active.  Unless  one  has  a  quite  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  territory,  it  will  be  impossible  to  prepare  a 
program  that  will  perfectly  fit  the  needs  of  that  territory. 
A  thousand  facts  are  brought  out  by  surveys.  For  instance, 
one  learns  the  exact  character  of  the  population ;  the  number, 
denomination,  etc.,  of  all  the  churches;  the  standing  of  the 
schools;  the  economic  condition  of  the  people;  what  other 
organizations  are  doing;  and  the  status  of  agriculture  and 
village  life.  Knowing  all  these  things  and  many  others, 
one  is  in  a  position  to  plan  for  cooperative  and  supplementary 
work. 

After  the  survey  the  available  leadership  will  determine  the 
program  of  activities  in  natural  order.  Play  or  recreational 
features  should  constitute  the  first  work.  If  one  studies  the 
play  life  of  Rural  America  in  the  growing  and  already 
voluminous  literature  of  the  subject,  he  is  amazed  at  the 
diversity  of  the  activities  of  a  recreational  character.  But 
unfortunately  the  activities  are  so  scattered  and  so  few 
rural  sections  can  be  found  anywhere  that  have  developed 
anything  like  a  system  in  providing  wholesome  amusements 
for  all  the  people,  that  one  regrets  the  failure  leadership  has 
thus  far  made  in  this  direction.  The  chief  reason  why  so 
little  definite  progress  has  been  made  is,  professionalism  and 
commercialism  have  secured  a  tight  grip  on  the  recreations 
and  amusements  of  the  nation  and  only  an  enlightened  con- 
science will  lead  to  their  emancipation. 

Different  parts  of  the  country  differ  greatly  in  their  recrea- 
tions. There  is  a  record  of  one  rural  county  that  emphasizes 
county  Sunday-school  picnics.  Several  are  held  annually  and 
each  is  given  under  the  auspices  of  two  or  more  schools 
working    together.     In    this    way    picnics    occur    all    over 

'^  40 


RURAL  AMERICA 

the  county  and  a  healthy  rivalry  exists  among  the  various 
sections  of  the  county.  Of  course  each  group  of  schools 
vies  with  all  others  in  the  preparation  of  the  most  interesting 
program  of  events.  A  certain  section  of  another  county  is 
very  musical  and  in  the  course  of  each  year  a  number  of 
musical  entertainments  take  place.  Other  counties  emphasize 
athletic  events  in  their  gatherings.  Still  others  take  a  special 
interest  in  the  history  of  their  local  territory  and  have  annual 
celebrations  of  a  commemorative  character.  Moreover,  pag- 
eants and  festivals  are  becoming  quite  common  in  many  parts 
of  the  country. 

Eaton  County,  Michigan,  conducts  township  play  picnics  in 
connection  with  the  eighth  grade  promotion  exercises  of  the 
country  schools.  All  the  rural  schools  of  the  country  co- 
operate in  these  athletic  events  and  they  are  held  in  different 
parts  of  the  county.  In  Greene  County,  Ohio,  the  two 
Christian  Associations  unite  in  giving  county  carnivals.  Boy 
Scout  maneuvers,  the  exercises  of  groups  of  small  girls, 
athletic  events,  band  concerts  and  the  Hke  provide  pleasure 
for  young  and  old  ahke.  A  very  successful  play  festival  in 
Delta,  Colorado,  a  year  ago,  was  attended  by  a  large  crowd. 
The  features  of  the  day  were  relay  races,  boys'  and  girls' 
basketball  games,  potato  races,  football  games,  nail-driving 
contests,  archball  games  and  other  events.  In  Charlevoix, 
Michigan,  a  series  of  play  festivals  was  conducted  during 
the  spring  of  1914.  Because  of  the  great  number  taking  part 
in  these  festivals,  widespread  interest  and  enthusiasm  were 
aroused.  The  winners  in  the  contests  received  their  rewards 
in  the  form  of  attractive  badges.  Windsor  County,  Vermont, 
has  for  a  number  of  years  had  an  annual  county  play  day  on 
the  fair  grounds.  This  is  given  under  the  auspices  of  the 
County  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  In  1914  there 
were  450  different  contestants  and  eighteen  separate  com- 
munities represented.  Interesting  features  of  the  day  were 
an  anglers'  tournament,  a  demonstration  of  first  aid  to  the 
injured,  a  number  of  athletic  events  participated  in  by  boys 
and  girls,  and  trap  shooting.     A  barbecue  was  served  at  noon, 

41 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

and  a  military  band  gave  the  large  crowd  the  benefit  of  good 
music  during  the  day.^ 

Instances  similar  to  these  might  be  multiplied,  indicating 
that  the  play  activities  of  the  nation  are  beginning  to  find 
widespread  expression  in  the  rural  sections.  So  the  rural 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  find  it  comparatively  easy  in  any  county 
to  formulate  a  play  program  that  will  appeal  to  the  people. 

Another  step  of  the  two  associations  is  providing  for  a 
program  of  work  designed  to  assist  young  people  in  their 
more  serious  activities.  Of  course,  the  work  of  the  county, 
like  that  of  the  city,  is  two-fold:  work  in  which  the  hands 
play  the  larger  part  and  work  in  which  the  brains  play  the 
larger  part.  It  is  less  the  duty  of  a  rural  association  to 
give  instruction  than  to  cooperate  with  the  agencies  through 
which  instruction  is  given.  For  example,  rural  secretaries  can 
accomplish  wonderful  work  through  cooperation  with  the 
schools ;  with  the  government  and  states  in  agricultural  exten- 
sion work;  and  with  the  institutions  that  supply  rural  sections 
with  books  and  periodicals. 

A  further  duty  consists  in  training  young  men  and  women 
for  the  responsibilities  and  duties  of  the  city,  since  many 
boys  and  girls  that  are  fitted,  and  others  that  are  unfitted, 
leave  the  country  for  the  city.  Instruction  of  the  right  char- 
acter can  save  thousands  that  would  otherwise  be  lost  in  the 
fierce  struggle  of  urban  life.  A  well-known  social  worker  in 
a  large  American  city  recently  made  the  statement  that  85  per 
cent  of  the  human  wreckage  of  his  city  was  of  rural  origin.^ 
To  show  how  great  the  present  drift  is  from  village  to  city, 
some  statistics  prepared  by  one  of  the  leading  educators  of 
the  state  of  Ohio,  Prof.  C.  W.  McClure,  many  years  super- 
intendent of  the  public  school  of  Germantown,  Ohio,  a  town 
of  1,776  inhabitants,  will  be  given.  During  the  eleven  years 
beginning  in  1904  and  ending  in  1915  the  school  graduated  179 


1  These  instances  are  taken  from  several  numbers  of  Rural  Manhood. 

2  See    Proceedings    of    Country    Church    Conference    held    December 
8-10,  1915- 

42 


RURAL  AMERICA 

pupils,  of  whom  76  were  boys  and  103  girls.  Of  the  76  boys 
14,  and  of  the  103  girls  10,  have  graduated  from  college,  and 
21  and  15  respectively  are  either  attending  college  now  with  a 
view  to  graduation  or  have  had  one  or  more  years  of  college 
work.  Of  the  76  boys  23,  and  of  the  103  girls  53,  reside  at 
Germantown;  48  and  49  respectively  reside  elsewhere,  for  the 
most  part  in  cities ;  and  5  and  i  respectively  are  dead.  Of  the 
24  that  have  graduated  from  recognized  colleges,  only  one 
now  lives  in  Germantown,  and  that  one  is  a  young  woman 
graduate  of  1914.  What  deductions  can  be  drawn  from  these 
data? 

(i)  A  large  percentage  of  the  college  graduates,  in  this 
case  over  95  per  cent,  leave  home,  most  of  them  for  the  cities. 

(2)  A  large  percentage  of  all  the  high  school  graduates 
leave  home,  in  this  case  over  60  per  cent,  which  is  much  lower 
than  it  would  be  if  it  were  not  for  the  recent  graduates,  more 
of  whom  are  at  home  now  than  will  be  later.  Most  of  these, 
too,  go  to  the  cities. 

Another  duty  of  the  secretaries  of  the  two  rural  associations 
is  preparing  a  program  for  the  spiritual  activities  of  the 
young  people.  In  the  preparation  of  such  a  program  the  insti- 
tution to  be  considered  is  the  rural  church.  The  number  of 
boys  and  girls  that  can  be  actually  reached  in  a  county  is  small, 
but  if  secretaries  and  pastors  are  real  leaders  a  more  perfect 
cooperation  among  the  churches  may  be  effected  and  excellent 
results  secured  through  team-work.  The  work  of  providing  for 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  youth  of  a  county  belongs  to  the 
churches,  but  the  churches  thus  far  have  not  done  their  full 
duty.  A  study  of  a  county  that  has  never  had  either  secre- 
tary and  of  another  that  has  enjoyed  the  leadership  of  one  or 
both  through  a  period  of  years,  reveals  the  wonderful  differ- 
ence between  the  activities  oi  the  youth  of  the  two  counties  in 
spiritual  matters. 

Another  important  duty  of  the  rural  secretary  is  fusing 
into  cooperative  effort  all  the  county's  scattered  activities  and 
movements  of  a  praiseworthy  character.  Of  course  this  can- 
not be  done  in  a  day.    But  the  right  sort  of  leader  can  in 

43 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

time  get  results.  The  student  of  rural  life  finds  Rural  America 
today  in  a  marvelously  plastic  condition.  Even  during  the 
wonderful  years  preceding  the  crusades,  the  people  of  Europe 
were  in  no  more  plastic  condition  than  Rural  America 
is  at  the  present  time.  The  crusades  heralded  the  Renais- 
sance, the  real  birth  of  modern  civilization.  The  stirrings  in 
Rural  America  today  herald  the  coming  of  a  new  day  that  will 
re-fashion  country  life  and  thus  create  a  greater  America. 

The  County  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  is  still  in 
its  pioneer  days,  but  it  now  has  organized  counties  in  ten 
states,  and  on  January  i,  1916,  there  were  six  field  county 
secretaries  and  fourteen  local  county  secretaries.  The  first 
county  conference  was  held  in  August,  1915,  at  Lake  Geneva, 
Wisconsin.  The  purpose  of  the  County  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  is  to  furnish  an  adequate  plan  by  which 
all  the  girls  of  a  county  can  have  trained  Christian  leadership 
for  the  development  of  all  sides  of  their  lives.  It  makes  use 
of  all  available  local  leadership  and  resources,  and  makes 
possible  county-wide  events,  such  as  camps,  field  meets,  exhib- 
its and  girls'  congresses.  Besides  the  regular  county  associa- 
tion work,  there  is  a  form  of  work  known  as  Eight  Week 
Clubs  which  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  college  girls  in  their 
home  communities  during  the  summer  months.  Large  numbers 
of  college  girls  throughout  the  United  States  have  taken 
courses  in  country  leadership  and  have  led  such  clubs  during 
the  past  three  summers.^ 

The  County  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  operating 
in  1916  in  94  counties,  having  124  employed  secretaries,  includ- 
ing 7  international  and  15  state  secretaries,  and  2,250  leaders 
and  assistant  leaders  and  expending  in  its  work  over  $220,000. 
The  communities  engaged  in  the  work  in  1915  numbered  925, 
which  had  a  membership  of  25,640.  During  the  year,  lectures 
and  practical  talks  were  attended  by  almost  ioo,<xx)  persons. 
There  were  95  educational  and  literary  clubs  and  35  educa- 
tional  classes.     The   socials   numbered    1,263.     Attention   to 


1  Data  furnished  by  Miss  Jessie  Field,  Secretary  for  County  Work  for 
the  National  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Board. 

s  44 


.  RURAL  AMERICA 

physical  training  was  given  by  650  communities,  most  of  them 
doing  both  outdoor  and  indoor  work.  There  were  811  Bible 
classes  and  1,323  religious  meetings  for  men  and  boys.  The 
work  has  had  a  growth  of  over  200  per  cent  in  five  years> 

/.  Country  Social  Life  Yesterday  and  Today 

In  the  "  Homespun  Age  "of  the  nation,  to  use  an  expres- 
sion of  Horace  Bushnell,  the  country's  social  life  was  rural 
in  its  character,  since  there  were  no  cities  in  the  present 
sense  of  the  term.  The  centers  of  population  which  bore  the 
name  cities  were  simply  big  country  towns,  and  the  social 
life  of  the  country  reflected  itself  in  practically  all  the  cities  of 
the  nation.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  according  to  the  census  of 
1800,  there  were  only  six  cities  in  the  whole  country  with  a 
population  in  excess  of  8,000.2  i^  those  pioneer  days  the 
social  life  of  the  country  had  largely  to  do  with  barn  raisings, 
plowing  contests,  log  rollings,  singing  schools,  sewing  cir- 
cles, apple  parings,  quilting  parties,  husking  bees,  spelling 
matches,  camp  meetings,  barbecues  and  the  like.  Now  if  one 
studies  those  activities,  he  finds  in  most  of  them  a  blending  of 
work  and  play.  But  the  age  of  coal  and  steam  effected  a 
change  in  the  social  life  of  the  nation,  which  previously  had 
been  distinctively  rural  in  its  character.  Cities  have  created 
a  social  life  of  their  own  and  the  youth  of  Rural  America  have 
been  partially  won  over  to  the  social  life  of  the  cities.  The 
characteristic  of  the  social  life  of  Urban  America  is  pleasure 
for  pleasure's  sake.  The  element  of  work  is  absent.  But  how- 
ever greatly  Urban  America  has  influenced  Rural  America,  the 
rural  population  still  clings  pretty  tenaciously  to  the  custom 
of  getting  keen  pleasure  from  the  social  activities  that  repre- 
sent a  blending  of  work  and  play.  The  late  Miss  Anna  B. 
Taft,  of  the  Department  of  Church  and  Country  Life  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  calls  rural  recreation  a  purposeful 
recreation  and  goes  on  to  say :  "  The  average  country  citizen  is 
more  serious-minded  than  his  city  brother.    In  his  moments  of 


^  Data    furnished   by   Mr.    A.    E.    Roberts   of  the    International   Y.    M. 
C.  A.  Committee. 

2  W.   L.  Anderson,  "  The  Country  Town,"  p.  31. 

45 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

relaxation  he  does  not  want  merely  to  be  amused.  His  life  is 
made  up  so  largely  of  actual  labor  and  encased  in  such  an 
economic  austerity  that  he  does  not  react  to  the  frivolous 
and  light.  There  must  be  something  to  the  play  life  that  fits 
his  need."i  Further  proof  of  this  fact  may  be  found  in  the 
reading  of  country  people.  An  investigation  of  the  reading 
statistics  of  a  rural  county,  covering  a  period  of  nine  suc- 
cessive years,  shows  that,  on  the  whole,  the  people  living  in 
the  open  country  read  more  serious  books  than  are  read  by 
city  residents.2  The  following  item  taken  from  the  German- 
town  (Ohio)  Press  is  to  the  point:  "On  Wednesday  morning 
of  last  week  a  number  of  merry  farmers  found  their  way  to 
the  woods  of  the  John  Kinsey  farm.  Owing  to  sickness  the 
renter,  Mr.  Hoffman,  had  been  unable  to  cut  his  winter's 
wood,  and  the  near-by  farmers,  prompted  by  a  feeling  of 
neighborliness,  enjoyed  a  day  of  fun  and  frolic  in  preparing 
for  him  a  big  pile  of  fuel.  Twenty-five  farmers  had  a  part 
in  the  pleasure  of  the  day." 


^  See  "  Country  Church  Work,"  p,  14. 

2  Saida  B.  and  Ernest  I.  Antrim,  **  The  County  Library,"  p.  223. 


46 


2.   Work 

"  There  is  one  friend  who  will  never  fail  you  while  you 
have  hands  to  move  and  a  brain  to  plan.  In  your  dreariest 
hours  she  will  be  your  sweet  refuge,  and  in  times  of  pros- 
perity she  will  guard  you  from  '  pride  which  goeth  before 
destruction.'  She  will  bring  you  long  nights  of  restful  sleep 
at  the  end  of  your  busy  days,  she  will  absorb  you  more  and 
more.  Her  name  is  Work,  and  neither  the  highest  nor  the 
lowest  can  be  happy  for  long  without  her." 

There  is  little  in  life  but  labor. 
And  tomorrow  may  find  that  a  dream ; 
Success  is  the  bride  of  Endeavor, 
And  luck  —  but  a  meteor's  gleam. 

There  are  thousands  of  persons  in  the  United  States  today 
that  are  not  obliged  to  work,  since  their  fortunes  are  ample 
to  maintain  them  in  idleness.  But  there  never  was  an  idle 
person  who  was  happy,  nor  was  there  ever  a  busy  person, 
even  though  his  work  might  not  have  been  to  his  taste,  that  did 
not  get  more  happiness  out  of  activity  than  he  could  pos- 
sibly have  obtained  from  idleness.  In  an  article  entitled 
"  Why  Does  a  Rich  Man  Work?  "  ^  H.  F.  Dix  says :  "  Always, 
as  a  mother  returns  rapturously  to  her  young  children,  so  they 
[the  rich  men],  the  homing  instinct  being  strong,  return  when 
vacation  is  over  with  new  zest  to  their  work.  The  railroads, 
banks  and  corporations  which  absorb  them  are  children  of 
their  enterprise  and  energy,  and  so  the  lure  of  the  market 
place  is  not  that  of  mere  money,  but  is  primal  in  its  origin  and 
wholly  normal  and  right.  It  is  the  appeal  of  Work  to  the 
man-soul." 

There  is  a  great  variety  of  work  done  in  Rural  America,  but 

^  See  The  Independent,  November  22,  19 15,  p.  306. 

47 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

the   most   important   is   that  of  the   schools.     So  the   Rural 
School  will  be  considered  first. 

A.  The  Rural  School 

The  writer  recently  had  the  privilege  of  talking  to  an 
elderly  lady  nearing  the  century  mark  whose  mind  is  as  clear 
as  a  bell  on  the  happenings  of  eighty-five  and  ninety  years  ago. 
The  principal  topic  of  conversation  was  the  country  school. 
In  her  youth  America  was  a  rural  nation,  and  the  few  schools 
of  the  open  country  and  the  schools  of  the  towns  and  cities 
were,  in  respect  to  their  courses  of  study,  very  much  the 
same,  the  only  difference  being  the  time  required  to  complete 
the  courses.  Manufacture  and  industry  played  a  minor  part 
in  the  national  life  in  those  days.  The  rule  was  thousands 
of  scattered  units  supplying  the  needs  of  the  people.  Rural 
America  and  Urban  America  were  one  and  the  towns  and  cities 
might  have  been  designated  trading  points  and  commodity 
clearing-houses  for  all  the  people.  The  work  of  the  country 
showed  fully  as  much  diversity  as  that  of  the  town  and  city, 
since  the  farmer  was  in  those  days  both  producer  and  manu- 
facturer. Social  intercourse  was  continuous.  One  never 
heard  of  the  lure  of  the  city;  the  civilization  of  the  nation 
was  distinctively  a  rural  civilization. 

What  a  change  this  elderly  lady  has  witnessed!  And  one 
of  the  unfortunate  things  respecting  the  change  is  that, 
although  all  the  schools  of  her  youth  fairly  well  met  the 
requirements  of  the  nation,  in  the  meantime  the  town  and  city 
schools  have  made  tremendous  progress,  adapting  their 
courses  to  the  needs  of  the  pupils,  while  the  country  schools 
have  lagged  behind.  Had  the  country  schools  gone  forward 
like  the  city  schools  there  would  not  be  today  in  Rural  Amer- 
ica a  school  problem  that  is  engaging  the  attention  of  the 
whole  country,  and  life  in  the  open  country  would  be  vastly 
different  if,  in  the  passage  of  the  years,  the  rural  educa- 
tional system  had  kept  pace  with  that  of  Urban  America. 

The  schools  of  Urban  America  have  advanced  along  three 
very  important  lines.  First,  towns  and  cities  have  for  years 
vied  with  one  another  in  the  erection  of  school  buildings  con- 
"^  48 


RURAL  AMERICA 

taining  all  the  facilities  for  the  education  of  urban  youth. 
Men  are  usually  quite  conservative  in  the  matter  of  taxing 
themselves  for  public  improvements,  but  there  seems  to  be 
no  disposition  anywhere  to  practice  economy  when  it  comes  to 
public  education.  The  result  is,  in  most  towns  and  cities  of 
the  present  day  the  schools  are  among  the  show  places.  Dur- 
ing the  past  two  or  three  years  there  has  been  considerable 
depression  in  the  business  world,  and  complaint  has  been  quite 
general.  Architects  who  several  years  ago  had  scores  of  men 
in  their  offices  have  reduced  the  number  to  a  minimumi  owing 
to  the  great  falling  off  in  building  operations.  But,  in  the 
erection  of  school  houses  in  the  towns  and  cities,  there  seems 
to  be  more  activity  than  ever,  which  is  an  indication  that 
Urban  America  is  equipping  herself  perfectly  for  the  educa- 
tion of  her  youth,  in  spite  of  financial  depression.  Now,  the 
rule  of  Urban  America  has  been,  not  only  to  provide  first-class 
school  buildings,  but,  in  the  second  place,  to  have  courses  of 
study  that  aim  adequately  to  prepare  pupils  for  the  work  they 
will  be  called  upon  to  do  when  their  school  life  is  ended.  The 
tendency,  which  is  nation  wide,  is  to  make  the  curricula  more 
responsive  to  the  requirements  of  the  day.  And,  thirdly, 
the  teaching  profession  has  been  greatly  improved,  so  that 
today  one  cannot  become  a  teacher  in  very  many  of  the  public 
schools  of  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  country  without  ade- 
quate preparation.  Thus,  along  the  line  of  school  buildings, 
courses  of  study  and  teachers,  town  and  city  schools  have 
taken  long  strides.  But  Rural  America  has,  on  the  whole, 
not  shared  in  this  progress.  With  her  one-room  schools,  often 
having  unsuitable  grounds,  with  courses  of  study  that  in  most 
cases  are  inadequate  and  with  teachers  who  frequently  go  to 
the  country  to  get  experience  that  they  may  later  teach  in 
towns  and  cities.  Rural  America  has  not  kept  pace  with  Urban 
America  in  school  matters.  And  what  she  has  done  has  too 
often  borne  the  urban  stamp.  Just  as  Daniel,  in  prayer, 
looked  toward  Jerusalem,  so  the  country,  educationally,  has 
been  turning  its  eyes  toward  the  city. 
Now,  the  chief  thing  that  has  kept  the  country  back  edu- 

49 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

cationally  has  been  its  small  educational  unit.  In  earlier 
years  the  little  school  district  was  the  ideal  educational  unit 
and  served  admirably  the  needs  of  the  day  when  the  nona- 
genarian was  a  school  girl.  But  the  slogan  of  the  twentieth 
century  is  centralization,  consolidation,  and  the  little  school 
districts  are  very  much  out  of  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age.  Of  course  there  are  some  school  districts  today  which  in 
spite  of  their  many  handicaps  do  wonderfully  well;  but  where 
one  such  school  exists  there  are  many  backward  schools,  and 
this  greatly  retards  the  symmetrical  development  of  the  nation. 

But  fortunately  a  new  day  is  dawning  in  Rural  America. 
The  fifty  millions  of  Rural  America  are  catching  the  vision 
of  the  possibilities  of  a  greater  rural  civilization,  public  sen- 
timent is  crystallizing  in  the  interest  of  a  rural  school  system 
that  will  be  perfectly  responsive  to  the  needs  of  the  new  era, 
and  the  next  generation  will  see  marvelous  changes.  A  study 
of  national  educational  progress  warrants  three  generaliza- 
tions: (i)  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  all  the  states  to  clothe 
the  state  boards  of  education  with  larger  powers  and  respon- 
sibilities, the  boards  themselves  to  select  the  state  superin- 
tendents ;  (2)  an  inclination  to  increase  the  size  of  the 
educational  unit,  which  in  a  majority  of  cases  is  made  the 
county;  and  (3)  a  nation-wide  desire  to  have  in  the  country  as 
good  buildings,  as  well  adapted  courses  of  study  and  as 
capable  teachers  as  are  found  in  the  cities. 

In  a  recent  interesting  article  Mr.  W.  K.  Tate  gives  a 
concrete  example  of  rural  school  work  that  is  worthy  of  imita- 
tion, with  the  changes  made  necessary  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  in  all  Rural  America.  "  In  the  experimental 
country  school  on  the  campus  of  the  Winthrop  Normal  and 
Industrial  College  of  South  Carolina,  the  school  day  usually 
begins  in  the  garden.  Arithmetic  is  studied  in  connection  with 
the  measurements  of  the  plots,  the  planting  of  the  seed,  the 
weighing  and  estimating  of  the  crop,  the  study  of  the  soil,  the 
building  of  the  fence.  After  the  youngest  children  have  laid 
out  their  garden  plots  and  planted  their  seed,  they  must  label 
the  beds  and  make  notes  in  their  garden  books  of  the  time  of 

50 


RURAL  AMERICA 

planting  and  other  facts  connected  with  the  garden.  Thus 
arises  the  necessity  for  reading  and  writing.  The  recipes  in 
the  school  kitchen,  and  the  directions  of  the  day,  written  on 
the  blackboard,  serve  as  reading  lessons.  On  the  library  table 
are  displayed  attractive  books  that  deal  with  the  things  the 
children  are  studying  in  the  gardens  and  on  the  play-grounds. 
The  child  who  has  been  watching  the  mocking-bird  build  a 
nest  in  the  peach  tree  eagerly  reads  the  bird  primer.  The 
group  that  has  found  a  cocoon  and  has  watched  the  butterfly 
emerge  from  it,  listens  attentively  to  the  story  from  the  but- 
terfly book.  In  that  school  the  school-house  is  like  a  country 
home,  with  its  gardens,  its  kitchen,  its  shop  and  its  living 
room.  Much  of  the  day  the  children  spend  in  the  open  air, 
either  in  the  garden  itself,  or  on  the  big  piazza.  In  the  shop 
there  is  a  little  formal  manual  training,  but  with  simple  tools 
the  boys  and  girls  make  the  things  needed  in  their  work.  In 
the  kitchen  the  luncheon  for  the  children  and  teacher  is  pre- 
pared and  cooked  during  the  progress  of  the  school  day. 
Much  of  the  food  is  produced  in  the  garden,  and  the  children 
thus  study  all  the  processes  connected  with  its  production 
and  preparation."  ^ 

The  same  writer  concludes  his  article  with  the  two  following 
paragraphs : 

"  The  new  country  school  will  always  have  an  auditorium 
that  may  be  used  as  a  community  meeting  place.  There  the 
school  gives  its  entertainments;  the  community  literary  so- 
ciety, the  farmers'  organization,  and  the  women's  clubs  meet 
there;  in  it  are  held  the  lyceum  attractions  that  are  gradually 
spreading  into  the  country  districts.  In  addition  to  its  grounds 
and  gardens,  the  country  school  will  have  its  experimental 
and  demonstration  plots,  under  the  direction  of  the  principal 
and  the  teacher  of  agriculture,  and  there  the  farmers  of 
the  community  will  meet  at  intervals  for  conference  and 
instruction. 

"  The  school  farm  will  be  tilled  with  the  help  of  the  school 
horses  that  pull  the  wagons  in  which  the  children  are  brought 


1  W.  K.  Tate,  "  The  New  Country  School,"  p.  4. 

51 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

to  the  school.  The  play-ground  will  expand  into  a  community 
athletic  field,  with  a  special  building  for  a  community  fair. 
Beside  the  school  house  will  be  the  teachers'  home.  The 
teachers  will  be  appointed  for  a  term  of  ten  years,  will  live  in 
the  community  all  the  year  around,  and  will  take  a  leading 
part  in  the  community  social  life.  Near  the  school  house  will 
be  the  community  church,  with  its  resident  pastor.  About 
these  two  regenerated  institutions  will  center  a  new  country 
life,  efficient  and  socially  satisfying."  ^ 

B,  Rural  Life  Bureaus  of  the  Federal  Government 

The  work  of  the  Federal  Government  in  the  Rural  Field  is 
largely  in  the  hands  of  bureaus,  many  of  which  have  recently 
been  established.  On  the  first  day  of  1916,  for  example,  the 
new  Bureau  of  Social  Centers  began  operations.  To  put  the 
schools  and  churches  of  Rural  America  into  use  in  the  every- 
day life  of  Americans  as  an  Americanizing,  industrial,  social, 
educational  and  religious  influence  of  the  broadest  character,  is 
the  purpose  of  this  new  bureau.  Much  attention  will  be  given 
those  communities  in  which  there  are  large  numbers  of  immi- 
grants, since  it  is  recognized  that  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
America's  polyglot  foreign  population  must  be  assimilated. 
Many  other  bureaus  are  doing  an  equally  important  work, 
the  aim  of  the  Federal  Government  being  to  supervise  all  the 
more  important  activities  of  Rural  America  and  to  render 
assistance  in  the  organization  of  the  Rural  Field.2 

C.  Extension  Work  ^ 

The  editors  of  The  Country  Gentleman  recently  made  the 
statement  that  "  probably  the  greatest  improvement  in  country 
life  conditions  is  resulting  from  the  work  now  being  done 
under  the  provision  of  the  Smith-Lever  Act."*  Before  the 
passage  of  this  act  in  May,   1914,  the  Federal  Government, 


1  W.  K.  Tate,  "  The  New  Country  School,"  p.  8. 

2  The  work  of  Institutes   and   Granges  would  be   considered  at  length 
under  the  head  of  Work,  were  it  not  so  well  known. 

3  Inforrnation    under  the   several   sections  down  to  that  on   Banks  ob- 
tained from  sources  too  numerous  to  mention. 

*  From  a  letter  to  the  author. 

52 


RURAL  AMERICA 

through  its  Agricultural  Department,  the  forty-eight  states 
through  their  Agricultural  Departments,  Colleges  of  Agricul- 
ture and  Experiment  Stations,  the  almost  three  thousand  coun- 
ties, and  the  many  institutions,  organizations  and  individuals 
not  connected  with  the  Federal  Government  or  any  of  its 
political  subdivisions,  cooperated  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in 
the  interest  of  a  better  rural  life.  Bulletins  were  issued  in 
great  number,  agricultural  trains  were  run,  short  courses  were 
given,  movable  schools  were  put  into  operation,  extension  work 
of  a  varied  character  was  conducted,  county  agricultural 
agencies  for  a  third  of  the  counties  of  the  nation  had  been 
established,  boys*  and  girls'  clubs  were  organized  all  over  the 
country,  and  many  other  things  were  done. 

This  act  welds  into  unity  practically  all  the  agencies  con- 
tributing to  agricultural  progress  through  the  establishment 
of  a  permanent  national  system  of  agricultural  extension 
work,  work  that  will  carry  innumerable  benefits  to  the  very 
door  of  every  farm  home.  And  since  all  the  forty-eight  states 
have  assented  to  the  provisions  of  the  act,  agricultural  progress 
will  henceforth  be  nation-wide  in  its  character.  The  work  is 
being  done  through  the  State  Agricultural  Colleges.  The 
Smith-Lever  Act  appropriates  $10,000  of  federal  funds  an- 
nually to  each  of  the  forty-eight  states  and  increases  the 
amount  yearly  until  1923,  when  the  annual  Government 
appropriation  will  be  $4,580,000.  The  additional  appropria- 
tion is  divided  among  the  states  in  the  proportion  that  the 
rural  population  of  each  state  bears  to  the  total  rural  popula- 
tion of  the  states.  Any  state,  however,  to  share  in  this 
extra  federal  Smith-Lever  fund  must  appropriate  and  spend 
in  extension  work  at  least  an  equal  amount  of  money  from 
sources  within  the  state. 

In  addition  to  the  Smith-Lever  funds,  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  during  1916  will  expend  from  its  own  appropria- 
tions over  $1,025,000,  and  the  states  will  raise  $2,650,600.  This 
will  make  a  grand  total  of  $4,750,000,  including  the  Smith- 
Lever  fund,  to  be  spent  in  the  fiscal  year  of  1915-16  in 
bringing  practical  and  helpful  instruction  to  the  farmer  and 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

his  family  in  their  own  communities.  Most  of  this  addi- 
tional money  is  used  in  connection  with  county  agencies, 
boys'  and  girls'  clubs,  demonstration  work,  home  economics, 
extension  work,  extension  work  through  specialists,  and 
movable  schools. 

That  an  idea  may  be  had  of  the  exact  character  of  the  work 
that  will  be  done  in  each  of  the  forty-eight  states  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Smith-Lever  Act,  a  condensed  statement  of 
the  last  annual  report  of  the  state  of  Ohio  will  be  given.  Of 
course  it  must  be  remembered  in  considering  this  report 
that  the  work  is  only  in  its  incipiency,  and  that  there  will  be 
annual  enlargements  with  increased  appropriations.  Hence, 
by  leaps  and  bounds  the  nation  is  sure  to  go  forward  in  rural 
development. 

Ohio 

Staff  workers  came  into  direct  contact  with  40,000  persons 
last  year  and  an  additional  34,000  inspected  exhibits.  There 
was  participation  in  48  one-week  extension  schools,  39  popular 
evening  meetings,  60  spraying  and  pruning  demonstrations,  24 
boys'  live  stock  judging  contests  in  22,  counties,  82  fertilizer 
meetings  in  44  counties,  13  community  and  church  meetings, 
12  women's  club  meetings,  6  corn  shows,  11  domestic  science 
contests  and  exhibits,  20  farm  and  orchard  demonstrations, 
18  miscellaneous  meetings,  16  high  school  programs,  6  pupils' 
and  parents'  meetings,  8  cow  testing  association  organizations, 
8  township  surveys  relative  to  wheat  culture,  10  fruit  thinning 
demonstrations,  etc.  In  addition,  a  Farmers'  Week  was  held 
in  February  and  a  Country  Life  Week  in  August,  and  fifteen 
county  normal  schools  in  agriculture  and  thirty-four  normal 
schools  in  domestic  science  were  conducted. 

Furthermore,  50,000  bulletins  were  issued  periodically,  and 
the  number  distributed  during  the  year  almost  reached  a  half 
million.  Also,  5,500  poultry  sheets,  representing  eleven  differ- 
ent issues,  were  published.  Then  bi-weekly  news  letters  were 
mailed  to  800  newspapers  in  the  state,  each  of  which  made 
approximately  two  newspaper  columns  and  consisted  of  items 

54 


RURAL  AMERICA 

on  seasonable  suggestions  on  farm,  garden,  home  work,  etc. 
Investigation  showed  that  80  per  cent  of  all  these  letters  were 
used,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  the  newspapers.  For 
correspondence  courses,  140  lessons  have  been  completed  on 
the  following  subjects:  Alfalfa,  bee  keeping,  clover  culture, 
concrete  on  the  farm,  corn  culture,  dairy  farming,  farm 
accounts,  farm  water  supply  and  sanitation,  home  economics, 
orchard  fruits,  garden  products,  potato  raising,  poultry  farm- 
ing, sheep  farming,  soil  fertility,  vegetable  growing  and 
tobacco  growing. 

This  underestimates  rather  than  exaggerates  the  work,  since 
there  are  many  activities  of  a  detailed  character  that  cannot 
be  mentioned.  Of  course  in  other  states  the  work  is  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  the  several  states,  so  that  each  state  does  the 
things  that  will  be  most  helpful  to  its  own  country  life.  In 
1923  and  thereafter  the  state  of  Ohio  will  have  available  for 
this  work  annually  the  large  sum  of  fully  $350,000. 

D.  County  Agent 

The  county  agent  has  been  a  big  factor  in  promoting  the 
interests  of  rural  life  for  a  period  of  twelve  years,  and 
already  over  one  thousand  counties  in  the  forty-eight  states 
have  taken  advantage  of  the  provisions  of  the  law  relative 
to  county  agents.  Many  of  these  counties  also  have  county 
experiment  farms.  There  is  no  doubt  that  counties  having 
experiment  farms  under  the  direction  of  competent  county 
agents  are  in  a  position  to  make  wonderful  progress  in 
agricultural  development.  It  is  found  that  experimentation 
in  one  part  of  a  state  will  not  prove,  except  in  a  general 
way,  very  helpful  to  any  portion  of  the  state  except  that 
contiguous  to  the  farm  on  which  the  experiments  are  con- 
ducted. Soil,  climate  and  many  other  factors  make  it  neces- 
sary that  each  county  do  its  own  experimenting  and  accept 
very  little  that  has  not  been  proved  successful  within  the 
county  itself.  Hence,  there  ought  to  be  not  only  a  county 
agent,  but  an  experiment  farm,  in  every  agricultural  county 


55 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

in  the  United  States.    If  a  good  agent  is  secured  first,  the 
farm  will  surely  follow. 

The  annual  report  of  the  county  agent  of  Jewell  County, 
Kansas,  will  be  of  interest,  since  it  shows  what  the  average 
county  agent  accomplishes  during  the  year : 

Farmers  visited  on  their  farms 281 

Total  number  of  visits  made 552 

Total  number  of  miles  traveled  by  agent 7,507 

Business  calls  on  agent  at  his  office 359 

Telephone    calls    450 

Meetings  addressed   115 

Attendance    at    meetings 8,8S4 

Average  attendance  at  meetings yy 

Total  attendance  at  judging  contests 540 

Stock   judging    contests 13 

Boys'  and  girls'  clubs  organized 9 

Number  enrolled  in  boys'  and  girls'  contest  work      183 

Circulars,  club  letters  and  bulletins  written 34 

Copies   of  above   circulars   distributed 8,329 

Copies  of  state  and  U.  S.  bulletins  distributed. .  4,369 

Letters   written    1,079 

Total  of  all  publications  distributed ^3,777 

Men  enrolled  in  five-acre  contest 23 

Bushels  of  grain  listed  for  sale 2,390 

Number  of  head  of  live  stock  listed  for  sale..        99 
Number  of  farmers  cooperating  in  demonstrations      64 

Types    of    demonstrations 24 

Total  number  of  demonstrations 117 

E.  Boys'  and  Girls'  Club  Work 

Boys'  and  girls'  club  work  furnishes  one  of  the  best  oppor- 
tunities for  teaching  by  example.  Boys'  corn  and  other 
agricultural  clubs  have  been  in  existence  for  some  years. 
The  department,  in  cooperation  with  various  agricultural 
colleges,  did  a  great  deal  to  popularize  this  demonstration 
work  and  make  it  effective  through  acre  contests  in  corn 
growing.  Boys  and  girls  between  the  ages  of  10  and  18  are 
admitted  to  these  clubs,  the  work  being  conducted  very  largely 


RURAL  AMERICA 

in  cooperation  with  school  officials  and  teachers  in  the  rural 
communities.  These  clubs  are  supervised  by  state  agents  or 
assistants  located  at  the  agricultural  colleges,  and  represent 
both  the  colleges  and  the  department.  They  are  assisted  by 
county  agents,  who  aid  in  the  organization  and  maintenance 
of  the  work,  and  by  club  specialists  from  the  offices  of  the 
Farmers'  Cooperative  Demonstration  Work  in  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture. 

By  far  the  most  wide-spread  and  numerous  organizations 
of  this  character  are  the  boys'  corn  clubs,  but  there  are  also 
clubs  for  the  growing  of  potatoes,  grain,  apples,  as  well  as 
for  raising  pigs  and  poultry.  The  prizes  offered  in  practically 
all  of  them  have  educational  value,  such  as  scholarships  at 
the  agricultural  colleges  or  short  courses,  trips  to  points  of 
interest,  etc. 

The  object  of  girls'  demonstration  work  is  to  teach  girls 
gardening  and  the  canning  of  vegetables  and  fruits  for  home 
and  market;  to  teach  the  family  how  to  utilize  the  surplus 
and  waste  products  of  the  farm  and  garden;  to  stimulate 
cooperation  among  members  of  the  family  and  in  the  com- 
munity; to  provide  a  means  for  girls  to  earn  money  at 
home;  to  pave  the  way  for  practical  demonstrations  in  home 
economics;  to  furnish  teachers  a  plan  for  correlating  home 
work  with  school  work.  Out  of  the  girls'  canning  club  work, 
which  is  extensive  in  the  southern  states,  has  grown  the 
employment  of  county  women  agents.  They  occupy  the 
same  position  to  women  and  girls  of  the  county  that  men 
agents  do  to  the  men  and  boys  of  the  county. 

F.  Banks 

Within  recent  years  much  has  been  done  for  the  farmer 
in  financial  matters.  Before  the  passage  of  the  Bank  Act 
of  December,  1913,  there  were  four  types  of  banking  institu- 
tions in  the  country:  national  banks,  state  banks,  private 
banks  and  building  and  loan  associations.  The  first  were  an 
outgrowth  of  the  Civil  War  and  were  established  to  furnish 
a  market  for  government  bonds  and  to  provide  a  national 

57 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

currency.  The  second  had  been  in  existence  since  the  close 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  differ  in  the  several  states, 
since  they  are  organized  under  charters  granted  by  the  states, 
although  in  recent  years  the  tendency  has  been  to  model  the 
state  laws  after  the  federal  laws.  The  third  had  their  origin 
at  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812  and  have  been  until  recent 
years  little  hampered  by  law  in  their  management.  Building 
and  loan  associations  came  a  decade  or  so  after  the  establish- 
ment of  private  banks,  and  have  been  a  boon  to  thousands 
of  people  in  enabling  them  to  purchase  homes  by  mortgaging 
future  savings. 

In  December,  1913,  a  federal  banking  law  was  passed  pro- 
viding for  twelve  federal  reserve  banks,  with  which  all  other 
banks  of  the  country  may  become  affiliated  on  complying  with 
the  conditions  imposed.  The  new  law  corrects  two  evils  that 
in  the  past  half  century  have  led  to  the  loss  of  bilhons  of 
money,  viz.,  an  inelastic  currency  and  an  immobile  reserve. 
The  federal  reserve  batiks  eliminate  the  two  major  defects 
in  the  nation's  banking  system  through  the  issuing  and  retir- 
ing of  federal  reserve  notes  in  response  to  the  demands  of 
the  business  world,  and  through  the  opportunity  offered 
member  banks  of  strengthening  reserves  by  negotiating  loans 
based  on  commercial  paper. 

The  removal  of  these  two  defects  in  the  banking  system 
of  the  nation  has  been  a  very  great  help  to  Rural  America, 
since  the  banks  of  Rural  America  had,  before  the  passage 
of  the  Act  of  1913,  been  largely  at  the  mercy  of  the  city 
banks,  most  of  their  reserve  having  been  kept  in  city  institu- 
tions. Hence,  if  trouble  arose  in  the  cities  —  and  there  is 
where  panics  always  started  —  the  reserves  of  the  country 
banks  became  more  or  less  unavailable,  owing  to  the  distress 
of  the  city  banks,  and  the  country  banks  were  dependent  on 
the  small  amount  of  cash  they  had  in  their  vaults  to  satisfy 
the  needs  of  their  depositors.  Now,  with  all  the  assets  of  the 
country  banks  constantly  liquid,  regardless  of  urban  condi- 
tions, the  country  has  been  placed  on  a  sound  financial  basis. 
In  addition,  national  banks  are  permitted  under  the  law  to 

^  58 


RURAL  AMERICA 

place  a  considerable  per  cent  of  their  assets  in  mortgage 
loans,  which  releases  many  millions  of  dollars  for  long-time 
investments  that  hitherto  had  to  be  put,  for  the  most  part, 
in  short-time  securities.  Dr.  Charles  L,  Stewart,  of  the 
University  of  Illinois,  thinks  that  the  present  banking  system, 
with  the  changes  made  by  the  Federal  Act  of  1913,  may 
prove  adequate  to  the  needs  of  Rural  America  under  certain 
conditions.  At  the  National  Conference  on  Marketing  and 
Farm  Credits,  held  at  Chicago,  November  29  and  30  and 
December  i  and  2,  1915,  he  made  the  following  statement: 

''The  present  type  of  banks,  if  subjected  to  proper  super- 
vision, given  certain  privileges  and  enlightened  by  a  scientific 
study  of  the  credit  needs  of  the  farm  in  different  Hues  of 
agriculture,  should  relieve  the  American  farmer  of  the  need 
of  undertaking  to  develop  a  separate  banking  system." 

G.  Rural  Credits 

In  recent  years  both  Congress  and  the  legislatures  of  many 
of  the  states  have  given  the  subject  of  rural  credits  a  great 
deal  of  consideration.  A  few  laws  have  been  passed  and 
several  of  the  states  are  planning  to  give  the  farmers  aid. 
However,  no  plan  has  been  tried  long  enough  to  enable  one 
to  judge  whether  it  will  prove  to  be  an  unqualified  success. 
Many  agricultural  associations  in  foreign  countries,  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  extending  credit  to  farmers,  embody  the 
idea  of  collective  liability.  It  has  been  generally  agreed  that 
associations  of  this  character  would  not  be  a  success  in  this 
country,  for  the  reason  that  the  American  farmer  is  an 
individualist  and  does  not  care  to  assume  any  indebtedness 
beyond  that  which  he  himself  contracts.  However,  the 
likelihood  is  that  plans  will  be  evolved,  not  containing  the 
feature  of  collective  liability,  which  will  still  permit  farmers 
to  secure  all  the  money  to  which  they  are  entitled  and  at 
any  time  that  it  is  needed,  at  minimum  rates.  When  one 
realizes  that  the  best  talent  of  the  nation  is  working  on  the 
problem,  one  concludes  that  plans  will  be  forthcoming  in 
harmony  with   the   spirit   of  Rural   America  and  productive 

59 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

of  as  good  results  as  those  found  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world. 

In  this  connection,  a  word  from  the  late  Hon.  Henry 
Wallace,  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  is  very  much  in  place.  He 
says  that  the  big  need  of  Rural  America  is  not  so  much 
greater  facilities  for  getting  in  debt,  since  a  plentiful  supply 
of  money  at  low  rates  gives  rise  to  land  speculation,  which 
leads  both  to  a  transfer  of  land  to  the  rich  and  to  a  rise  in  its 
value,  thereby  causing  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  poor  land- 
owners, but  greater  facilities  for  getting  out  of  debt.  The 
facilities  for  getting  in  debt  are  abundant.  If  the  opportuni- 
ties for  getting  out  of  debt  show  an  equally  great  increase, 
then  the  young  man  who  wants  to  become  a  tenant  and  the 
tenant  who  wants  to  buy  a  farm  will  be  given  the  kind  of 
help  that  is  most  needed  in  Rural  America.  The  former  can 
be  best  aided  through  a  long  lease,  which  must  be  made  the 
rule  instead  of  the  exception  if  this  nation  is  not  to  become 
a  nation  of  city  dwellers  and  peasants,  and  the  latter  can  be 
best  aided  through  loans  extending  over  a  long  period  of 
years.  Both  would  thus  have  plenty  of  time  to  build  up  the 
land  and  the  danger  of  a  nation  of  tenant  farmers  would  be 
removed. 

The  strengthened  condition  of  the  thousands  of  rural  banks 
of  the  country  due  to  the  passage  of  the  Money  Bill  of 
December,  1913,  has  already  proved  to  be  a  boon  to  many 
sections  of  Rural  America.  So  if  the  law  can  be  reinforced 
by  the  passage  of  a  workable  rural  credits  law  by  Congress 
and  by  supplementary  laws  in  the  several  states,  the  chief 
cause  that  has  militated  against  tenants'  getting  hold  of  the 
land  will  have  been  removed. 

At  the  National  Conference  on  Marketing  and  Farm  Credits 
(November-December,  1915)  many  plans  for  improving  the 
credit  conditions  of  Rural  America  were  suggested  by  speakers 
of  national  reputation.  Some  of  these  will  be  briefly  con- 
sidered. The  Hon.  Harris  Weinstock,  member  of  the  Cali- 
fornia Rural  Credit  Commission,  advocated,  as  a  remedy  for 
absentee  landlordism,  that  the  several  states  buy  and  improve 

60 


RURAL  AMERICA 

land  and  sell  the  same  to  persons  intending  to  adopt  the 
calling  of  farming.  He  referred  to  the  success  of  the  Irish 
and  Australian  land  acts  and  recommended  a  5  per  cent  initial 
payment  on  the  land  and  a  one-third  payment  on  equipment. 
The  Hon.  Charles  W.  Holman,  expert  on  land  problems,  also 
held  that  state  aid  would  prove  to  be  the  only  remedy  for 
absentee  landlordism.  He  said  that  the  greatest  real  estate 
deal  of  history  was  the  buying  out  of  the  Irish  landlords  by  the 
British  Government.  In  1876  one-half  the  land  of  Ireland  was 
owned  by  700  persons.  Today  there  are  over  400,000  home 
owners  and  only  200,000  tenants,  and  no  other  nation  of  the 
world  has  made  more  progress  agriculturally  during  the  past 
generation  than  Ireland.  Dr.  Elwood  Mead,  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  California,  stated  that  the  Australian  and  New  Zea- 
land methods,  in  the  matter  of  getting  the  land  into  the 
hands  of  the  home  owners,  were  better  adapted  to  conditions 
in  the  United  States  than  any  other  foreign  plans.  Australia, 
for  example,  finances  the  farmers  on  small  tracts  of  land, 
provides  supervisors  for  groups  of  farmers  and  gives  pur- 
chasers a  long  time  to  pay  for  their  land,  charging  them  low 
rates  of  interest.  Men  are  drawn  to  the  land  and  the 
government  has  profited  financially  through  the  undertaking. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  F.  W.  Thompson,  president  of 
the  Farm  Mortgage  Bankers'  Association,  called  attention 
to  the  resolution  adopted  by  his  association  at  their  conven- 
tion in  October,  1915,  which  provided  for  national  land 
mortgage  banks,  supervised  like  national  banks,  and  having 
the  double  function  of  (i)  negotiating,  buying  and  selling 
individual  farm  mortgages  and  (2)  issuing  farm  mortgage 
bonds  against  the  collective  mortgage  security  held.  He 
maintained  that  the  average  interest  rate  of  the  farm  mortgage 
loans  of  the  country  aggregating  two  billion  dollars  was  not 
excessive,  being  only  6^  per  cent.  Robert  D.  Kent,  a  New 
Jersey  banker,  suggested  a  national  system  of  building  and 
loan  associations,  with  local  and  district  associations  and  a 
great  national  association.  Such  an  arrangement,  he  be- 
lieved,   would    stimulate    initiative,    encourage    self-help   and 

61 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

place  on  the  market  under  the  guarantee  of  the  national 
association  a  new  type  of  mortgage  bond,  a  gilt-edged  invest- 
ment for  all  the  people. 

The  Hon.  Myron  T.  Herrick,  former  United  States 
ambassador  to  France,  thought  that  the  credit  facilities  of 
the  farmer  should  be  improved  through  private  initiative 
rather  than  state  aid,  although  uniform  laws  to  standardize 
credits,  to  provide  careful  supervision  and  to  guarantee 
perfect  safety  should  be  passed.  He  spoke  of  the  unenviable 
state  aid  experiences  of  Denmark,  France,  Russia  and  some 
of  the  Balkan  countries  and  referred  to  the  experience  of 
the  Federal  Government  in  1836,  when  the  surplus  of  the 
treasury  was  deposited  with  twenty-six  states.  New  York^ 
the  most  populous  state,  lost  all  of  its  share,  over  four 
millions,  most  of  which  was  invested  in  farm  loans.  He  also 
referred  to  the  recent  experience  of  the  Federal  Government 
in  irrigation  projects,  which  have  cost  over  $100,000,000  and 
have  proved  unsatisfactory  both  to  the  Government  and  to 
the  settlers.  All  agree,  however,  that  the  credit  facilities 
of  the  United  States  are  bad.  So  his  first  recommendation 
is  the  enactment  of  proper  real  estate  laws,  with  the  adop- 
tion by  all  the  states  of  the  Torrens  system,  with  the  revision, 
where  necessary,  of  foreclosure  laws,  and  with  the  enactment 
of  permissive  laws  with  reference  to  bond  and  mortgage 
companies  and  landshafts. 

Early  in  the  1915-1916  session  of  Congress  there  was 
introduced  in  the  House  a  rural  credits  bill  providing  for  a 
federal  loan  board  to  be  appointed  by  the  president  and  a 
number  of  federal  loan  banks,  each  to  have  a  capital  of  at 
least  $500,000.  These  federal  loan  banks  would  loan  to 
farmers  through  local  associations.  Of  course,  this  bill  is 
likely  to  be  considerably  modified  before  it  is  enacted  into 
law  if  it  should  finally  become  a  statute. 

H.  Taxation 

A  study  of  the  taxation  laws  of  the  country  reveals  the 
fact  that  most  of  the  states  still  have  what  is  known  as  the 
t^  62 


RURAL  AMERICA 

general  property  tax  (abolished  in  the  following  states:  Vir- 
ginia, 1902;  Minnesota,  1906;  Oklahoma,  1907;  Michigan, 
1909;  Arizona,  191 1;  Maine,  1913;  New  Mexico,  1914;  North 
Dakota,  1914;  Kentucky  and  Maryland,  1915),  which  means 
that  all  kinds  of  property  are  taxed  on  the  same  basis.  Of 
course  there  is  a  good  deal  of  difference  among  the  states 
in  the  matter  of  appraisement.  In  some  states  property  is 
appraised  at  only  a  fraction  of  its  real  value,  while  in  other 
states  the  appraisement  is  higher,  and  in  a  few  states  all 
property  is  on  the  duplicate  at  its  real  value.  This  system 
of  taxation,  which  has  come, down  from  the  early  days,  when 
nearly  all  property  consisted  of  real  estate  and  tangible  per- 
sonal property,  is  now  proving  generally  unsatisfactory  owing 
to  the  vast  increase  in  intangible  personal  property,  which 
can  be  concealed,  thus  throwing  the  burden  of  taxation  on 
real  estate  and  tangible  personal  property. 

Owing  to  the  great  amount  of  intangible  personal  property 
in  the  cities,  much  of  which  escapes  taxation,  the  farmer 
has  felt  the  burden  of  unjust  taxation  and  made  complaint 
all  over  the  country.  The  result  has  been  that  the  general 
property  tax  has  been  either  abolished  or  modified  in  many 
states.  Certain  kinds  of  property  have  been  exempted  from 
taxation  altogether,  or  taxed  at  lower  rates,  and  in  a  few 
states  the  laws  have  worked  to  the  advantage  of  the  farmer, 
since  some  of  the  exemptions,  as  well  as  the  property  on 
which  the  rates  have  been  lowered,  are  found  on  the  farm. 
However,  in  the  matter  of  taxation,  a  study  of  the  situation 
reveals  the  fact  that  the  greatest  benefit  from  new  laws  has 
gone  to  the  residents  of  cities,  since  most  of  them  have  to  do 
with  personal  property,  which  is  found  to  a  much  greater 
value  in  municipal  centers  than  in  the  country.  One  real 
benefit  has  come  to  the  farmer  in  several  states  in  the  exemp- 
tion of  mortgages  from  taxation,  which  increases  the  desira- 
bility of  the  mortgage  from  an  investment  standpoint  and 
reduces,  at  least  theoretically,  the  rate  of  interest.  There  is 
not  a  single  state  in  the  Union  that  has  a  tax  law  that  is 
giving    general    satisfaction.     The    great    drawback    to    the 

63 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

passage  of  a  law  that  would  be  absolutely  fair  for  all 
residents  of  a  state  is  the  unfortunate  element  of  selfish- 
ness that  enters  into  human  nature.  Possibly,  sometime, 
Americans,  like  Greeks  in  the  palmy  days  of  Greece,  will 
subordinate  private  welfare  to  the  general  welfare,  making 
private  life  simple  and  pubHc  life  ample  and  rich,  and  then 
tax  troubles  will  disappear. 

/.  Blue  Sky  Laws 

There  was  a  time  in  this  country  when  the  peddler  of 
stocks  and  bonds  of  uncertain  value  did  a  thriving  business. 
Statisticians  estimate  the  losses  of  the  people  through  invest- 
ments in  such  securities  by  the  hundreds  of  millions.  How- 
ever, one  state  after  another  has  passed  what  Kansas,  leading 
the  way,  called  a  blue  sky  law,  which  throws  so  many 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  illegitimate  handling  of  stocks 
and  bonds  that  the  swindler  finds  his  way  beset  with  impedi- 
ments, and  the  business  of  disposing  of  wild-cat  securities  to 
the  gullible  has  languished.  Although  the  farmer  is  no  more 
susceptible  to  the  fairy  tales  of  the  swindler  than  the  average 
citizen,  yet  easy  money  has  always  had  a  very  strong  attrac- 
tion for  him,  for  the  reason  that  his  profits  represent  the 
sweat  of  his  brow.  So,  through  the  passage  of  these  protective 
laws,  the  farmers  of  America  are  being  saved  millions  of 
money  annually  that  in  preceding  years  filled  the  coffers  of  the 
wily  stockjobber.  Recent  months,  however,  have  witnessed 
a  sort  of  reaction  against  blue  sky  legislation,  with  the  result 
that  some  of  the  laws  already  passed  may  be  repealed  or 
modified.  It  is  claimed  that  the  severity  of  the  laws  is 
very  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  legitimate  stock  and  bond 
concerns.  Still,  there  is  no  likelihood  that  the  states  will 
revert  to  the  leniency  of  the  days  when  the  business  was 
absolutely  unhampered. 

/.  Good  Roads 

The  past  decade  has  been  a  decade  of  good  road  building, 
and  the  farmer  is  the  one  receiving  the  greatest  benefit.    Of 

1^  64 


RURAL  AMERICA 

course  most  of  the  roads  being  built  are  paid  for  by  the 
farmers  themselves.  But  to  a  greater  extent  than  ever 
before  are  the  several  states  going  into  the  business  of  con- 
structing highways,  and  these  are  being  built  largely  at  state 
expense.  And  since  many  of  the  states  have  urban  popula- 
tions that  are  greatly  in  excess  of  the  rural  populations,  it 
can  readily  be  seen  that  the  cities  are  paying  the  larger 
share  for  the  very  roads  that  bring  the  farmers  into  touch 
with  the  urban  centers  and  thus  make  their  products  more 
valuable  because  of  the  improvement  in  transportation  facili- 
ties. Besides,  the  likelihood  is  that  the  Federal  Government 
will  in  due  time  have  a  financial  part  in  the  construction  of 
some  of  the  roads  of  the  country,  and  this,  too,  will  accrue 
to  the  advantage  of  the  farmer.  The  nation  has  entered  the 
automobile  era,  the  slogan  of  which  is  good  roads.  The  auto- 
mobile era  is  making  a  new  epoch  in  the  national  life,  and  if 
it  does  nothing  more  than  give  the  nation  good  roads  it  will 
have  served  a  good  purpose  for  the  fifty  million  people  of 
Rural  America.  At  the  present  time,  the  several  political 
subdivisions  of  the  forty-eight  states  expend  annually  in  road 
work  $174,035,083,  the  total  road  mileage  of  the  country  is 
2,273,131,  and  of  this  mileage  almost  11  per  cent  has  been 
improved. 

K.  Economic  Cooperation 

The  spirit  of  cooperation  is  beginning  to  permeate  the 
whole  of  Rural  America.  There  is  an  increasing  tendency  to 
cooperation  in  all  activities.  One  scarcely  finds  a  county, 
for  example,  that  does  not  have  its  local  mutual  insurance 
company,  and  many  counties  have  a  number  of  such  com- 
panies. The  time  is  likely  to  come  when  the  insurance  idea 
will  have  been  so  widely  adopted  that  one  can  protect  himself 
against  almost  all  hazards  found  in  the  open  country.  In 
recent  years,  rural  telephone  companies  have  become  quite 
numerous,  with  the  result  that  there  are  few  sections  any- 
where that  do  not  enjoy  perfect  telephone  service.  One  also 
finds  here  and  there  cooperative  arrangements  for  securing 

6s 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

both  gas  and  electricity.  In  many  parts  of  the  country  central 
electric  light  plants  supply  power  and  light,  where  desired, 
within  a  radius  of  many  miles.  Besides,  most  persons  have 
heard  of  the  discoveries  that  make  possible  both  lighting  and 
heating  by  electricity  at  a  distance  and  by  wireless.  Investi- 
gation also  shows  that  there  are  organizations  of  many  kinds 
having  to  do  with  cooperative  buying  and  selling.  However, 
all  cooperative  activities  are  for  the  most  part  local  in  char- 
acter and  nothing  has  yet  been  worked  out  that  is  national 
in  its  scope.  The  many  units  found  in  Rural  America  make 
the  problem  of  cooperation  on  a  very  large  scale  very  diffi- 
cult of  solution. 

At  the  National  Conference  on  Marketing  and  Farm  Credits 
the  slogan  was  cooperation.  Millard  R.  Myers,  editor  of  the 
American  Cooperative  Journal,  advocated  the  adoption  of 
the  Rochdale  plan  in  cooperative  activities.  This  means :  ( i ) 
every  customer  a  shareholder;  (2)  every  shareholder  one  vote; 
(3)  interest  paid  on  money  invested;  and  (4)  surplus  divided 
on  the  basis  of  patronage.  Hon.  Frank  L.  McVey,  president 
of  the  conference,  stated  that  although  the  farmers  of  the 
nation  {^6  per  cent  of  the  population)  have  had  for  several 
years  an  annual  income  of  nine  billion  dollars,  yet  agriculture 
has  not  prospered,  and  he  mentioned  three  needs :  better  agri- 
culture, better  markets  and  better  finance.  And  back  of  all 
three,  he  maintained,  there  must  be  organization,  cooperation. 
Producers  of  iron  ore  are  organized  for  the  transportation, 
melting  and  manufacture  of  their  product,  and  its  sale  to  the 
consumer,  and  many  other  producers  have  found  it  necessary 
to  do  the  same  thing.  American  agriculture  must  organize 
also  if  she  would  hold  her  own.  In  Germany,  according  to 
Hon.  David  Lubin,  of  Rome,  Italy,  an  autocratic  government 
devised  an  economic  system  for  the  farming  population  and 
put  it  into  operation  for  a  double  purpose :  to  elevate  the  farm- 
ing population  to  a  higher  plane,  and,  through  strengthening 
the  position  of  the  conservative  farming  population,  to  coun- 
teract the  tendencies  of  the  socialistic  and  radical  urban  popu- 
lation.    Mr.    Lubin   says   the   American   farmer   is   naturally 


RURAL  AMERICA 

brighter  than  the  German  farmer,  but  the  German  farmer  is 
today  the  brightest  in  the  world  owing  to  the  fact  of  govern- 
ment aid.  Unquestionably  a  group  of  federal  experts  with 
unlimited  power  could  within  a  generation  revolutionize 
American  agricultural  conditions.  But  many  persons  think  it 
would  be  better  for  the  farming  population  to  attain  the 
uplands  of  achievement  through  their  own  initiative  than  to 
rise  as  a  result  of  outside  initiative.  The  Hon.  Sir  Horace 
Plunkett,  of  Dublin,  Ireland,  said  the  value  of  cooperative 
movements  can  be  especially  seen  in  crises.  He  pointed  out 
that  the  food  situation  in  Europe  during  the  war  would  be 
infinitely  worse  if  it  were  not  for  the  organization  among 
farmers  that  prevails  in  nearly  all  the  countries. 

Cooperation  was  especially  urged  at  the  conference  in  the 
matter  of  marketing.  Many  speakers  made  the  statement 
that  the  farmers  of  the  nation  lose  annually  untold  sums 
because,  in  their  unorganized  condition,  they  deal  almost 
solely  with  organized  bodies  of  men.  W.  J.  Kittle,  of  Chicago, 
secretary  of  the  Milk  Producers'  Association,  said  that  12,500 
dairy  farmers  supply  Chicago  with  one  and  one-quarter  mil- 
Hon  quarts  of  milk  daily.  This  milk  is  produced  on  land 
worth  from  $150  to  $250  per  acre  by  cows  worth  $100  a  head. 
Labor  costs  $35  to  $40  a  month  and  feed  is  always  high.  Yet 
the  farmer  averages  only  from  25^c  to  4c  a  quart  for  his  milk, 
when  the  actual  cost  of  production  is  according  to  experts  5c 
a  quart.  Hon.  Wilfred  Wheeler,  secretary  of  the  Massachu- 
setts State  Board  of  Agriculture,  said  the  situation  relative 
to  dairy  farming  was  equally  serious  not  only  in  his  state  but 
in  all  New  England.  According  to  The  Banker-Farmer  there 
are  14,000,000  cows  in  the  country,  owned  by  1,400,000  persons, 
and  two-thirds  of  these  earn  a  profit  of  only  30c  a  year  each. 

The  two  chief  reasons  given  for  failure  to  get  results  in 
marketing  farm  products,  according  to  Charles  J.  Brand,  chief 
of  the  Bureau  of  Markets  and  Rural  Organization,  were  non- 
standardization  and  lack  of  uniformity  in  containers.  Dr. 
Charles  McCarthy  recommended  that  each  state  should  have 
its  own  brands  or  labels,  that  there  should  be  state  administra- 

67 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

tive  bodies  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  making  rules, 
that  only  such  goods  as  answered  requirements  should  be  given 
brands  or  labels,  and  that  the  commissioners  of  the  several 
states  should  cooperate  with  one  another.  There  is  quite  a 
number  of  organizations  whose  brands  are  famous.  These  are 
found  especially  in  fruit  sections  and  dairy  products  districts. 
Of  the  numerous  cooperative  enterprises  in  North  America 
possibly  the  largest,  in  point  of  products  handled,  may  be 
considered  the  three  grain  companies  of  Western  Canada. 
George  F.  Chipman,  of  Winnipeg,  said  these  include  490  ele- 
vators, which  have  already  handled  more  than  250,000,000 
bushels  of  grain  at  a  profit  of  $1,600,000.  The  speaker  pre- 
dicted that  they  would  eventually  handle  three-fourths  of  the 
grain  crop  of  Canada  and  go  extensively  into  the  other  lines 
of  business  having  to  do  with  the  farmer. 

Thirteen  states  now  have  marketing  bureaus,  which  are 
giving  special  attention  to  the  marketing  of  farm  crops. 
W.  G.  Scholtz,  director  of  the  Idaho  Department  of  Markets, 
said  his  state  is  doing  three  important  things  through  the 
recently  established  department  of  which  he  is  director.  It 
conducts  a  free  employment  bureau  to  assist  farmers  to  secure 
laborers,  and  laborers  to  get  work.  It  aims  to  eliminate 
fraud  in  land  sales  and  helps  buyers  to  find  land  at  reasonable 
prices.  It  aids  in  the  marketing  of  farm  products  at  maxi- 
mum prices.  Clarence  Ousley,  of  Texas,  claimed  there  was  a 
preventable  waste  in  the  cotton  crop  of  the  South  running  as 
high  as  $300,000,000,  and  this  was  largely  due  to  faulty  han- 
dling, marketing  and  transporting.  To  eliminate  this  waste 
within  her  own  borders,  Texas  passed  a  warehouse  law  pro- 
viding for  the  storage  not  only  of  cotton,  but  of  all  other 
agricultural  products.  Through  regulated  ginning,  baling, 
sampling  and  grading,  Texas  hopes  to  save  her  farmers  mil- 
lions of  dollars  annually,  and,  through  the  issuance  of  ware- 
house receipts,  make  it  possible  to  borrow  money  on  stored 
cotton,  thus  preventing  the  anaual  dtmiping  of  cotton  on  thq 
market. 

The  officers  of  the  thirteen  state  marketing  bureaus  recently 
68 


RURAL  AMERICA 

held  a  meeting  at  Chicago,  and  organized  a  national  associa- 
tion of  marketing  officials.  They  strongly  urge  the  creation 
of  marketing  bureaus  in  all  of  the  states  which  have  none  at 
the  present  time,  with  the  thought  that  when  each  state  has  a 
marketing  bureau,  a  national  marketing  plan  can  be  devised 
which  will  result  in  introducing  improved  methods  of  market- 
ing, thereby  eliminating  a  great  deal  of  waste. 

John  Lee  Coulter,  dean  of  the  College  of  Agriculture,  West 
Virginia,  made  the  statement  that  there  are  5,000,000  tenants 
and  farm  laborers  in  the  United  States  and  that  the  future 
of  the  United  States  is  dependent  on  these  men.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  program  which  he  recommends : 

1.  An  act  of  Congress  providing  for  a  complete  scheme  of 
farm  land  banks. 

2.  Legislative  acts  of  the  states  supplementing  the  national 
law  and  providing  for  state  institutions  to  do  various  phases 
of  the  mortgage  business  which  the  national  farm  land  bank 
would  not  care  to  undertake. 

3.  Legislation  by  the  states  simplifying  the  laws  pertain- 
ing to  titles,  deeds,  foreclosures  and  exemptions. 

4.  An  up-to-date  state  bureau  of  farm  lands  with  a  com- 
plete list  of  farms  for  sale  and  farms  for  rent,  and  with  as 
much  detail  concerning  these  as  possible. 

5.  A  thorough  scheme  of  rural  education  with  county  organ- 
ization, so  provided  that  every  county  headquarters  would 
have  a  complete  list  and  careful  rating  of  all  farms  in  the 
county. 

6.  Such  state  legislation  as  is  necessary  to  take  over  by  some 
public  service  corporation  lands  not  already  developed  —  these 
lands  to  be  developed,  parceled,  and  sold  on  advantageous 
terms  to  select  farmers  who,  not  owning  any  land,  are  seeking 
to  become  permanent  settlers,  with  the  idea  of  living  upon  and 
operating  their  own  farms. 

The  state  that  has  done  the  most  in  the  field  of  economic 
cooperative  activities  is  Minnesota.  On  January  i,  1914,  there 
were  in  the  state  2,013  cooperative  establishments,  and  these, 
in  1913,  did  a  total  business  of  $60,759,208.    These  figures  are 

69 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

taken  from  a  bulletin  of  the  agricultural  experiment  station  of 
the  University  of  Minnesota.  The  records  were  compiled 
with  great  care  after  investigations  by  experts. 

In  the  lead  of  cooperative  enterprises  are  the  creameries,  of 
which,  in  1914,  there  were  614,  which  represent  y2  per  cent 
of  all  the  creameries  of  the  state.  Their  business  amounted 
to  $21,675,252.  Forty-two  per  cent  of  the  farmers  of  the  state 
are  patrons  of  these  creameries.  In  no  other  state  is  the 
butter  industry  controlled  to  such  an  extent  by  the  farmers 
themselves.  The  extent  of  the  business  and  the  cost  of  con- 
ducting it  are  shown  in  the  following  figures: 

Total  pounds  of  butter  made  in  1913 74,934,940 

Average  number  of  pounds  per  creamery.      122,044 

Total  paid  farmers  for  butter  fat $19,988,321 

Average  paid  farmers  per  creamery $32,554 

Total   running   expenses $1,628,931 

Expense  per  pound  of  butter  made  (cents)  2.2 

Total  number  of  patrons. 65,191 

Average  number  of  patrons  per  creamery. .  106 

Total  number  of  cows  belonging  to  patrons       504,975 
Average  number  of  cows  per  creamery. . . .  822 

These  creameries  are  operated  on  a  truly  cooperative  basis. 
After  deducting  from  their  gross  receipts  enough  to  cover 
expenses,  they  distribute  the  remaining  profits  according  to 
the  amount  of  butter  fat  brought  by  each  patron.  In  all 
excepting  3^  per  cent  of  the  creameries,  the  one-man  one- 
vote  principle  prevails. 

In  1913,  the  state  had  34  cooperative  cheese  factories. 
These  manufactured  4,201,743  pounds  of  cheese  at  a  value  of 
$637,324,  and  paid  patrons  in  cash  $563,845.  They  were  oper- 
ated at  an  expense  of  $73,379.  It  also  had  270  farmers'  ele- 
vators, with  an  aggregate  membership  of  about  34,5oo. 
Following  the  harvesting  of  the  1912  crops,  the  total  business 
of  these  elevators  amounted  to  $24,000,000.  The  farmers 
own  a  majority  of  the  stock  of  the  elevators  and  in  all  save 


70 


RURAL  AMERICA 

SVi  per  cent  each  stockholder  has  but  one  vote,  regardless 
of  the  number  of  shares  he  owns. 

Cooperative  stores  are  less  numerous.  Of  the  120  stores 
reporting,  sixty-one  rendered  detailed  reports  showing  a  total 
business  of  $2,593,643,  an  avefage  of  $43,518  for  each  store. 
The  cooperative  store  movement  has  been  marked  by  a  num- 
ber of  failures,  but  there  are  no  figures  to  prove  that  the 
experiences  of  cooperative  stores  have  been  much,  if  any, 
worse  than  those  of  privately  owned  stores.  Farmers  own 
81  per  cent  of  the  stock  in  fifty-nine  of  the  stores,  and  if  the 
average  should  hold  for  the  rest  of  the  120,  the  movement 
is  in  line  with  the  development  of  the  cooperative  spirit  in 
other  directions. 

A  more  recent  development  in  cooperative  marketing  in 
Minnesota  has  to  do  with  live  stock  shipping  associations. 
On  January  i*  1914,  there  were  115  such  organizations,  and 
many  have  been  formed  since.  The  value  of  the  live  stock 
marketed  through  associations  in  1913  was  approximately 
$6,000,000,  12  per  cent  of  the  total.  There  are  600  cooperative 
telephone  companies,  which  do  an  annual  business  of  $900,000, 
and  154  township  mutual  fire  insurance  companies,  which 
were  the  first  successful  cooperative  enterprises  in  the  state. 
Receipts  from  premiums  in  1913  were  $696,732,  and  the  total 
amount  of  insurance  outstanding  January  i,  1914,  was  $342,- 
223,319.  The  cost  of  each  $100  of  insurance  in  force  was 
18  cents,  as  against  46  cents  for  stock  companies  soliciting 
business  on  three-year  contracts.  The  number  of  policies  in 
force  at  the  end  of  1913  was  158,283,  an  average  of  1,128  for 
each  company. 

The  Hon.  Myron  T.  Herrick,  in  his  address  before  the 
National  Conference  on  Markets  and  Rural  Credits,  gave  the 
following  comprehensive  definition  of  an  economic  cooperative 
association:  "A  cooperative  association  may  be  defined  as 
a  voluntary  union  of  persons  for  utilizing  their  collective 
energies  or  resources,  or  a  part  of  them,  under  their  manage- 
ment, in  some  economic  enterprise  carried  on  upon  their 
common  account  with  a  view  to  their  mutual  and  individual 

71 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

benefit."  All  the  speakers  at  the  conference  agreed  that  an 
association  such  as  that  just  defined  would  be  the  only  means 
of  creating  a  greater  Rural  America. 

L.  Politics 

In  political  matters  two  movements  have  been  more  or  less 
general  in  Rural  America:  one,  a  movement  to  give  to  the 
people  more  power  in  government;  the  other,  a  movement  to 
reconcile  politics  and  religion,  which  have  been,  in  a  measure, 
divorced  from  the  beginning.  The  former  may  be  studied 
in  the  great  amount  of  federal  and  state  legislation  of  recent 
years.  It  has  not  been  very  many  years,  for  example,  since 
little  was  known  in  the  United  States  of  the  initiative  and 
referendum,  which  are  forbidding  Latin  derivatives.  But 
today  eighteen  of  the  forty-eight  states  provide  for  either 
one  or  both  of  them  in  their  constitutions.  South  Dakota 
made  the  start  in  1898  and  the  other  seventeen  states  followed 
in  rapid  succession.  The  latter  movement  is  in  evidence 
everywhere.  There  has  been  a  great  resurgence  of  conscience 
in  Rural  America,  and  a  mighty  effort  is  being  put  forth  to 
purify  the  political  life  of  the  nation. 

M.  Foundations 

In  a  number  of  cities  of  the  country,  notably  Cleveland, 
St.  Louis  and  Chicago,  there  have  recently  been  established 
foundations  to  handle  bequests  dedicated  to  community  wel- 
fare. There  are  thousands  of  persons  dying  every  year  who 
would  like  to  leave  part  or  all  of  their  estates  for  the  benefit 
of  the  people.  But  the  difficulty  has  been  to  arrange  for  the 
wise  handling  of  the  bequests.  How  much  money  is  willed 
to  private  individuals,  or  left  to  relatives  that  do  not  need  it, 
or  foolishly  given  away,  which  would  be  set  aside  for  the 
good  of  all,  if  confidence  could  be  inspired  in  prospective 
benefactors  that  their  bequests  would  be  in  safe  hands  after 
their  death.  Now,  the  problem  has  been  solved  in  some 
communities  through  the  establishment  of  foundations,  which 
are  sure   to  be   well   managed   all   through   the   future,  each 

72 


RURAL  AMERICA 

bequest  to  be  administered  in  accordance  with  the  wishes 
of  the  donor.  Such  a  foundation  might  be  called  a  clearing 
house  of  bequests,  gifts,  donations,  etc.,  and  should  be  estab- 
lished in  every  community.  Even  small  communities  of  a 
thousand  people  might  well  have  them,  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  such  institutions  would  not  fill  a  need  in  townships  and 
counties.  They  would,  in  time,  receive  property  of  various 
kinds  that  would  surprise  even  the  most  sanguine.  They 
would  encourage  philanthropy.  They  would  correct  miscel- 
laneous and  harmful  charity.  They  would  promote  local 
spirit.  They  would  eventually  become  a  strong  factor  in 
putting  Rural  America  on  a  soHd  foundation.  Almost  every 
community  today  contains  would-be  benefactors,  and  the  need 
of  an  organization  which  will  inspire  confidence  and  encourage 
giving  for  the  general  welfare  is  becoming  more  and  more 
urgent  as  the  nation  increases  in  wealth. 

A^.  Efficiency 

All  know  that  one  of  the  big  words  of  the  present  age  is 
efficiency,  which  is  just  now  playing  a  very  important  part 
in  the  industrial  world.  Of  course  the  reason  why  men  are 
giving  the  matter  of  efficiency  so  much  attention  in  the  indus- 
trial world  is  because  it  increases  profits,  and  profits  rule  the 
nation,  even  though  it  is  gradually  dawning  on  the  national 
consciousness  that  profits  are  not  the  whole  of  life.  The 
expression  is  gaining  currency,  "  Man  does  not  live  by  cash 
alone."  Now,  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  develop  efficiency 
in  the  industrial  world,  where  great  aggregations  of  men  are 
under  the  direction  of  trained  leaders  and  where  the  rule  is, 
few  units  and  increasing  expertness  of  leaders.  But  in  Rural 
America,  where  the  units  are  innumerable  and  almost  every 
man  is  his  own  master,  efficiency  makes  very  slow  progress. 
It  is  no  serious  criticism  of  Rural  America  to  say  that  the 
amount  of  her  wasted  and  misdirected  energy  is  beyond  com- 
putation. R.  L.  Gray,  in  The  Saturday  Evening  Post,  speaks 
very  much  to  the  point  in  this  connection: 

"  A  young  man  was  husking  corn  at  two   cents  a  bushel 

73 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

twelve  years  ago  and  was  barely  able  to  earn  a  dollar  a  day 
while  men  in  the  same  field  earned  twice  as  much.  They 
worked  no  harder  than  he  did  and  not  so  long.  He  began 
watching  to  see  where  he  lost  time.  He  was  slow  in  moving 
from  stalk  to  stalk  and  saw  at  once  that  it  required  no  more 
energy  to  move  quickly  that  it  did  to  move  slowly.  He  had 
taken  one  long  step  on  the  road  to  improvement.  Then  he 
saw  that  he  was  making  five  distinct  motions  in  getting  an 
ear  from  the  husk  when  only  two  were  necessary,  so  he  learned 
to  make  two  and  get  the  ear  clean.  The  third  fall  he  husked 
fifty  bushels  in  four  hours  more  easily  than  he  had  in  ten 
hours  at  the  beginning. 

"  In  my  boyhood  there  was  a  chum  with  whom  I  spent 
many  pleasant  days.  He  was  the  hardest  worker  and  the 
most  ingenious  boy  in  the  neighborhood.  When  he  went  out 
to  feed  the  horses  in  the  morning  he  watered  and  fed  the 
hogs,  because  the  yards  were  on  the  way  to  the  barn.  When 
he  had  fed  the  horses  he  went  to  the  pasture  and  drove  up 
the  cows,  because  the  barn  was  on  the  way  to  the  pasture. 
That  boy  would  not  take  twenty  steps  where  five  would  do. 
He  could  do  more  in  a  day  than  any  man  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  he  did  it  with  less  exertion  because  he  knew  how  to  work 
and  kept  his  mind  on  what  he  was  doing. 

"  Here  is  a  suggestion  that  if  followed  for  a  week  will  be 
fairly  well  followed  for  life.  While  beginning  the  morning- 
chores  map  out  the  day*s  w^ork,  estimate  the  time  it  will  take 
to  do  it.  If  anything  else  can  be  done  to  advantage,  gain 
time  enough  to  do  it.  Make  life  a  living  contract  and  live 
up  to  it.  Deal  with  the  agent  promptly  and  fire  the  loafer. 
Time  is  worth  money  to  the  live  farmer  and  it  isn't  worth 
fifteen  cents  a  million  years  to  the  loafer.  Tighten  up  the 
screwy  and  get  rid  of  the  lost  motion." 


74 


3.    Worship 

"  About  seven  million  years  ago,  more  or  less,  a  stupid 
slow-moving  lizard  known  to  science  as  brontosaurus  roamed 
the  earth.  He  was  thirty  feet  tall  and  seventy  feet  long.  He 
weighty  over  thirty  tons.  As  he  lumbered  along,  each  of  his 
ponderous  feet  left  a  track  that  occupied  one  square  yard. 
No  one  knows  why  he  became  extinct.  Perhaps  the  earth 
shrugged  her  shoulders  one  day  and  brontosaurus  could  not 
adapt  himself  to  the  change.  Nature  scrapped  him."  The 
scrap  heap  of  America  is  beginning  to  assume  huge  propor- 
tions, since  mighty  efforts  are  being  put  forth  everywhere  to 
discard  the  things  not  conducive  to  progress.  The  country 
church  of  yesterday  was  adequate  to  the  needs  of  pioneer 
times,  but  she  has  fallen  behind  and  hence  must  suffer  the 
fate  of  brontosaurus.  Country  life  experts  agree  that  the 
present  rural  church  is,  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other 
rural  institution,  a  remnant  of  a  past  civilization.  The  new 
country  church  is  an  entirely  different  institution.  Although 
there  are  many  agencies  in  Rural  America  that  are  further- 
ing the  religious  welfare  of  the  people,  the  only  one  that 
will  be  considered  under  the  head  of  Worship  will  be  the 
rural  church,  since  others  are  considered  under  other 
headings. 

A.  The  Rural  Church 

The  "  Old  Time  Religion  "  is  more  strongly  entrenched  in 
Rural  America  than  in  Urban  America :  there,  many  persons 
consider  this  earth  a  place  of  probation  and  there,  too,  the 
piety  of  the  fathers  continues  to  prevail.  Urban  America  is 
more  inclined  to  discard  the  old  and  adopt  the  new,  regardless 
of  the  advice  of  Alexander  Pope: 

Be  not  the  first  by  whom  the  new  is  tried, 
Nor  yet  the  last  to  lay  the  old  aside. 

75 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

A  poet  recently  satirized  this  inclination  of  Urban  America 
in  these  words: 

Father  is  a  Futurist,  mother  is  a  Suf., 
Grandma's  a  Conservative,  hates  newfangled  stuff; 
Brother's  an  Impressionist,  sister's  Academic, 
Uncle  Tom's  Cubistical  and  baby  is  Eugenic. 

Although  it  is  not  to  be  regretted  that  emphasis  in  urban 
religious  activity  is  being  transferred  from  life  beyond  the 
grave  to  life  on  this  side  of  the  grave,  since  life  on  earth 
is  the  important  thing  today,  yet  the  decay  of  the  piety  of 
earlier  days,  which  is  more  prevalent  in  the  city  than  in  the 
country,  is  to  be  deplored.  It  is  the  decay  of  the  old  time 
piety  that  causes  The  Wall  Street  lournal  to  express  itself 
thus: 

"What  America  needs  more  than  railway  extension,  and 
western  irrigation,  and  low  tariff,  and  a  bigger  wheat  crop, 
and  a  merchant  marine,  and  a  new  navy,  is  a  revival  of 
piety  —  the  kind  father  and  mother  used  to  have  —  piety 
that  counted  it  good  business  to  stop  for  daily  family  prayer 
before  breakfast,  right  in  the  middle  of  harvest;  that  quit 
field  work  a  half  hour  early  Thursday  night,  so  as  to  get  the 
chores  done  in  time  for  prayer-meeting;  that  borrowed 
money  to  pay  the  preacher^s  salary.  That's  what  we  need 
now  to  clean  this  country  of  the  filth  of  graft,  and  of  greed, 
petty  and  big;  of  worship  of  fine  houses  and  big  lands  and 
high  offices  and  grand  social  functions.  What  is  this  big 
thing  we  are  worshiping  but  a  vain  repetition  of  what  de- 
cayed nations  fell  down  and  worshiped  just  before  their 
lights  went  out?  Great  wealth  never  made  a  nation  sub- 
stantial nor  honorable.  There  is  nothing  on  earth  that  looks 
good  that  is  so  dangerous  for  a  man  or  a  nation  as  quick, 
easy,  big  money.  If  you  do  resist  its  deadly  influence  the 
chances  are  it  will  get  your  son." 

Some  time  ago  a  man  arose  in  a  prayer  service  and  asked 
an  interest  in  the  prayers  of  those  present  because  he  was 


RURAL  AMERICA 

getting  rich  rapidly.  America  has  been  getting  rich  so 
rapidly  in  recent  years  that  a  great  resurgence  of  prayer 
is  needed  to  save  her  from  the  curse  of  materialism.  Prof. 
L.  P.  Jacks  recently  made  the  statement  that  the  chief  cause 
of  the  great  war  was,  the  economic  development  of  the  world 
has  outstripped  the  moral  development.^  The  wealth  of  the 
cities  has  for  a  generation  been  growing  by  leaps  and  bounds 
owing  to  the  triumphs  Urban  America  has  been  achieving  in 
the  field  of  world  commerce,  and  a  combination  of  causes 
has  added  bilHons  to  the  wealth  of  the  farmer.  But  the  most 
hopeful  sign  of  the  present  is  that  the  wealth  of  the  farmer 
is  likely  to  increase  more  slowly  in  the  future  than  it  did  in 
the  recent  past,  which  will  prevent  the  extinction  of  piety 
in  the  country,  where  it  has  continued  to  live  since  the  days 
of  the  fathers.  Fortunately,  it  shows  many  signs  of  revival 
in  the  country,  and,  with  the  country  safe.  Urban  America 
will  be  safe.  At  the  Country  Church  Conference,  Columbus, 
Ohio,  December  8,  9,  10,  1915,  the  statement  was  made  that 
three- fourths  of  the  members  of  urban  churches  join  by 
letter,  which  indicates  migration  from  country  to  city,  while 
three-fourths  of  the  members  of  rural  churches  are  gained 
by  profession  of  faith. 

The  new  religion  of  Rural  America  has  a  double  creed: 
(a)  the  country  is  the  best  place  on  earth  to  own  a  home, 
to  make  a  living  and  to  rear  a  family,  and  (b)  the  country 
must  take  the  initiative  in  the  great  work  of  establishing  the 
Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  This  creed  is  coming  to  be 
generally  accepted  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  here  and  there 
the  country  church  has  tried  "  to  digest  an  urban  religion 
under  an  urbanized  leadership,"  with  consequent  severe  pains 
and  extreme  nausea. 

A  study  of  the  rural  field  reveals  the  following  facts:  (i) 
The  whole  nation  seems  to  know  that  the  country  church  must 
be  made  a  regnant  institution  in  Rural  America.  (2)  The 
problem  of  the  country  church  is  being  studied  in  a  scientific 


^  See  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  September,  1915,  p.  419. 

77 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

manner.  Students  are  realizing  that  the  rural  church,  like 
other  rural  institutions,  must  be  given  its  proper  setting  in 
rural  life.  (3)  The  number  of  institutions,  associations, 
organizations,  societies,  etc.,  that  are  seeking  a  solution  of  the 
rural  church  problem,  in  the  light  of  the  scientific  method, 
is  increasing  from  year  to  year,  and  their  efforts  are  bearing 
wonderful  fruit.  (4)  Leadership  is  beginning  to  realize  that 
the  problems  of  the  country  demanding  solution  before  Rural 
America  can  boast  of  the  great  rural  civilization  of  which  her 
wonderful  inherent  powers  give  promise,  are  worthy  of  the 
best  minds  in  the  whole  nation.  No  big  man  can  possibly  be 
happy  with  a  little  task.  Rural  America  for  the  next  genera- 
tion contains  the  big  tasks  of  the  country,  and  these  are  invit- 
ing leadership  to  a  test  of  its  powers. 

Among  the  handicaps  to  the  development  of  a  strong  rural 
church  may  be  mentioned:  (i)  Diminishing  membership. 
With  a  decrease  in  the  population  of  the  country,  it  is  quite 
natural  that  the  membership  of  the  country  churches  should 
decrease.  In  many  a  country  church  has  the  writer  discussed 
this  matter  with  some  of  the  leading  members.  Invariably  he 
is  told  of  this  family  and  that  family  and  the  other  family 
having  moved  from  the  neighborhood  and  of  a  reduction  in 
the  number  of  farms.  Of  course  this  sort  of  thing  stirs  the 
blood  of  the  fighting  man,  and,  in  all  live  churches,  great  efforts 
are  being  put  forth  to  get  the  entire  community  into  the 
churches,  that  they  may  hold  their  own.  But  one  can  gather 
little  inspiration  from  the  task  of  building  up  a  church  in  a 
community  with  a  diminishing  population.  The  next  census, 
however,  will  likely  show  the  country  population  decreasing 
less  rapidly.  (2)  Traction  lines  and  automobiles.  Each  is  a 
great  temptation  to  the  resident  of  the  farm  on  Sunday, 
especially  if  he  has  been  busy  all  week,  with  little  oppor- 
tunity for  social  diversion.  How  easy  it  is  to  take  the  trac- 
tion car  for  a  pleasure  ride  or  a  trip  somewhere,  or  to  run 
out  the  automobile  for  a  few  hours'  spin  on  the  good  roads, 
even  to  the  other  side  of  the  county,  if  one  desires.  The 
number    of    automobiles    is    increasing    very    rapidly    in    the 

\v  78 


RURAL  AMERICA 

country.  At  a  county  fair  held  by  a  rural  county  in  Septem- 
ber, 1915,  a  group  of  investigators  counted  on  the  grounds 
1,750  automobiles  at  one  time  on  the  big  day.  The  farmer 
has  come  to  regard  the  automobile  as  not  only  a  luxury  but 
a  necessity  in  the  life  of  his  family.  (3)  Attractive  town  and 
city  churches  with  excellent  music  and  eloquent  pastors. 
Within  recent  years,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  town  and 
city  churches  have  increased  their  membership  at  the  expense 
of  the  country  churches.  Today  there  is  hardly  a  town  or 
city  church  that  does  not  have  its  growing  rural  membership. 
It  is  only  during  the  past  decade  that  special  attention  has  been 
given  to  a  study  of  crowds  and  the  results  of  the  study  are 
amazing.  Although  much  can  be  accomplished  by  small 
groups,  yet  there  is  more  inspiration  when  the  company  is 
large  than  when  only  two  or  three  are  gathered  together. 

Now,  if  this  problem  is  to  be  solved,  the  first  need  is  a 
more  perfect  cooperation  among  the  individuals,  churches, 
organizations,  institutions,  societies,  associations,  etc.,  that 
are  bending  their  efforts  to  the  renaissance  of  the  rural 
church.  It  will  be  impossible  at  this  point  to  go  into  details, 
but  a  word  might  be  said  about  the  denominations  that  have 
country  churches.  Not  only  should  each  of  the^e  have  a 
department,  whose  whole  time  is  devoted  to  the  work  of  the 
rural  church,  but  they  should  work  out  a  plan  of  cooperation. 
Denominational  jealousies  must  be  eliminated,  and  denomina- 
tions must  be  broad  enough  to  solve  the  problems  of  each 
country  community  in  a  spirit  of  concession.  As  long  as 
denominations  are  more  concerned  about  the  welfare  of 
individual  churches  than  about  the  welfare  of  communities, 
so  long  will  the  solution  of  the  country  church  problem  be 
delayed.  "  Loyalty  to  one's  own  church  is  surely  a  virtue. 
But  when  one's  loyalty  to  his  church  exceeds  his  loyalty  to  the 
Kingdom,  then  a  law  of  the  Kingdom  is  broken  and  some 
one's  life  is  broken  with  it."  Reorganizations  and  new  align- 
ments are  needed  on  a  big  scale  in  the  rural  field. 

The  rural  church  situation  is  somewhat  different  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.     In  New  England  and  the  Middle  States 

79 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

one  finds  depleted  land  fertility,  abandoned  farms  and  great 
urban  development  with  a  rather  homogeneous  rural  popula- 
tion; in  the  South  one  finds  sections  held  back  by  several 
centuries  of  slavery,  devastated  by  a  four  years'  civil  war, 
handicapped  by  the  co-existence  of  two  races  equal  in  popu- 
lation, the  inferior  of  which  must  be  elevated  at  the  expense 
of  the  superior,  and  suffering  from  all  the  troubles  of  a 
hitherto  one  crop  country;  in  the  great  Mississippi  Valley 
one  finds  rich  lands  gradually  losing  their  fertility,  farms 
decreasing  in  number  and  increasing  in  size,  and  a  population 
of  considerable  heterogeneity;  in  the  Great  West  one  finds 
for  the  most  part  semi-arid  land  made  productive  through 
irrigation,  and  a  population  representing  some  of  the  best 
people  of  the  East  and  Mississippi  Valley  scattered  over  wide 
areas.  In  all  these  sections  there  is  tremendous  activity  in  the 
great  work  of  solving  the  country  church  problem.  New 
Ejigland  and  the  Middle  States  are  thoroughly  awake;  the 
South,  to  any  one  who  attended  the  great  Conference  for 
Education  and  Industry  in  1915,  seems  to  have  assumed  the 
responsibilities  for  her  herculean  task  with  a  determination 
to  achieve  victory;  the  Mississippi  Valley  is  endeavoring  to 
fuse  all  the  agencies  of  rural  progress  into  a  triumphant  force 
for  shaping  the  destiny  of  the  world's  greatest  rural  popula- 
tion, and  the  Great  West  is  building  a  civilization  of  its  own 
on  the  experiences  of  America's  past. 

Of  epoch-making  importance  was  the  Country  Church 
Conference  held  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  December  8,  9,  10,  1915, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Federal  Council  of  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America.  A  condensed  statement  of  the  secretary 
of  the  Commission  on  Church  and  Country  Life  follows : 

In  1910,  1911  and  1912  the  Federal  Council  of  Churches 
(thirty-one  denominations)  maintained  a  bureau  and  clearing 
house  of  research,  information  and  promotion,  touching  the 
various  church  and  country  life  interests.  Since  1913  a  special 
committee  has  been  in  charge  of  this  work  and  an  executive 
gives  to  it  his  undivided  attention.  During  the  year  1915, 
Ohio  has  been  the  field  of  investigation  and  study,  the  work 

80 


RURAL  AMERICA 

done  being  supplementary  to  that  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  the  Ohio  Rural  Life  Survey  in  1912  and  1913.  On  the 
completion  of  the  Ohio  survey,  the  committee  will  meet  to 
determine  the  best  plan  of  action.  The  data  thus  far  gathered 
indicate  that  one-fourth  of  Ohio's  townships  (9,000  square 
miles)  have  no  resident  pastors  and  most  of  the  churches  in 
this  area  are  declining  in  membership.  In  each  township 
there  are  on  the  average  four  churches,  one  church  to  every 
286  persons.  Surveys  made  in  other  states  reveal  similar 
conditions.  The  only  hope  for  improvement  lies  in  inter- 
denominational cooperation. 

During  the  year  1916  there  will  be  made  in  Ohio  a  special 
study  of  successful  country  churches,  and  bulletins  of  the 
work  will  be  printed  for  the  rural  pastors  of  the  state  and 
students  of  theological  seminaries,  the  purpose  being  to  create 
higher  ideals  and  standards.  It  is  also  proposed  to  hold  an 
increased  number  of  church  institutes  in  the  various  counties. 
Interdenominational  organization  for  country  church  better- 
ment has  given  an  esprit  de  corps  to  the  country  ministry, 
has  filled  rural  pastors  with  faith  and  courage  for  the  future 
and  has  increased  confidence  and  respect  for  country  church 
work.  Moreover,  many  good  men,  hitherto  of  the  cities,  have 
been  drawn  to  country  parishes  and  scores  of  young  men  are 
entering  the  ministry  with  the  idea  of  devoting  their  lives  to 
the  rural  field. 

Many  excellent  addresses  were  delivered  at  the  conference 
and  reports  of  very  great  interest  were  made  on  the  following 
subj  ects : 

(i)   Function,   Platform  and   Policy  of  the  Country 
Church. 

(2)  Financing  the  Country  Church. 

(3)  The    Training    of    Country    Pastors    and    Other 

Leaders. 

(4)  Church  Cooperation  and  Federation. 

(5)  The  Allies  of  the  Country  Church. 

(6)  The  Country  Church  as  a  Community  Center. 

(7)  The  Church  and  Rural  Economy. 

81 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

The  report  closes  with  these  significant  words : 
"  It  appears  from  our  observation  in  Ohio  that  in  large 
areas  the  denominations  working  independently  of  one  an- 
other have  failed  to  prevent  serious  decline  in  the  rural 
churches,  and  that  it  is  entirely  unlikely  that  without  inter- 
denominational cooperation  the  churches  will  be  able  to 
overcome  the  difficulties  of  the  situation.  If  this  is  true  in 
Ohio  and  in  other  states  also,  the  need  of  interdenominational 
organization  is  obvious." 


82 


4.  Health 

There  are  many  movements  in  Rural  America  having  to  do 
with  the  physical  health  of  the  people.  Two  of  these  will  be 
considered  at  some  little  length :  the  Rural  Sanitation  Move- 
ment initiated  by  the  North  Carolina  State  Board  of  Health 
and  the  County  Hospital  Movement  started  in  the  state  of 
Iowa. 

A.  Rural  Sanitation  Movement 

North  Carohna  provides  for  rural  sanitation  by  two  meth- 
ods :  the  county  unit  system  under  state  direction  and  the 
county  health  agent  system  under  local  direction.  The  former 
costs  annually  from  $500  to  $1,000  and  the  latter  from  $3,000 
to  $4,000  per  county.  The  former  is  considered  preferable 
in  the  beginning,  even  in  rich  counties,  as  it  is  sure  to  prove 
a  stepping-stone  to  the  latter.  Two  concrete  illustrations 
will  give  the  reader  an  idea  as  to  what  is  done  under  the 
former  method: 

First,  the  North  Carolina  Board  of  Health  contracted  some 
months  ago  with  ten  counties,  for  a  county  appropriation  of 
$500,  to  administer  free  typhoid  immunization  to  those  citizens 
of  the  ten  counties  who  wished  to  be  immunized.  In  the  first 
set  of  five  counties  complete  treatment  was  given  to  26,537 
persons,  and  it  was  estimated  that  the  number  in  all  the  coun- 
ties would  reach  50,000,  or  one-eighth  of  the  total  population. 

Second,  for  a  county  appropriation  of  $10  per  school  the 
State  Board  of  Health  arranged,  through  the  county  authori- 
ties and  with  the  teachers,  a  program  of  constructive  Health 
Days  for  quite  a  number  of  the  schools  of  the  state.  Two 
weeks  before  the  Health  Day  the  teacher  receives  from  the 
State  Board  of  Health  hand-bills  announcing  the  date  and 
program  for  Health  Day,  which  are  distributed  through  the 
whole    school    and    community.     The    representative    of    the 

83 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

State  Board  of  Health  arrives  at  the  school  at  lo  A.  M.  on 
Health  Day  and  first  makes  a  fifteen-minute  talk  to  the 
children  and  visitors  on  the  importance  and  knowledge  of 
the  laws  of  health.  He  then  makes  a  medical  examination 
of  the  pupils  and  gives  each  defective  child  a  card  to  its 
parents,  notifying  the  parents  of  the  nature  of  the  defect 
and  urging  them  to  see  the  inspector  after  the  evening  exer- 
cises. The  inspector  mails  a  report  of  the  inspection  to  the 
State  Board  of  Health,  which  keeps  in  touch  with  the  parents 
of  the  defective  children  until  they  are  treated.  The  in- 
spector then  questions  the  children  after  the  manner  of  the 
old-time  spelHng  match  on  a  health  catechism,  which  has 
been  supplied  to  the  school  in  sufficient  number  at  least  one 
month  before  Health  Day,  after  which  there  is  adjournment 
until  8  P.   M. 

The  evening  exercises  consist  of  from  three  to  four  short 
illustrated  lectures  by  the  inspector  on  the  more  important 
subjects  of  sanitation,  interspersed  with  the  reading  of  selected 
compositions  by  the  pupils.  The  last  item  on  the  program  is 
the  awarding  of  prizes,  a  first  prize  for  the  best  knowledge  of 
the  health  catechism  and  a  second  prize  for  the  best  composi- 
tion. The  inspector  grades,  score-card  manner,  each  school  on 
the  excellence  of  its  showing  on  Health  Day.  When  the  work 
in  a  county  has  been  completed,  a  county  prize  is  awarded 
for  the  best  composition,  and  another  prize  for  the  best 
knowledge  of  the  health  catechism.  The  inspector  can  handle 
one  rural  school  a  day,  but  village  and  town  schools  require 
a  longer  time.  Thus,  the  whole  county  is  covered.  It  can 
readily  be  seen  that  this  broadens  the  vision  of  all  the  people, 
and  the  way  is  paved  either  for  increased  appropriations  for 
similar  work  along  special  lines  or  for  the  adoption  of  the 
county  agent  plan,  which  will  be  next  considered. 

The  county  health  agent  receives  a  salary  of  $2,500  per  annum 
and  devotes  his  whole  time  to  his  work.  The  two  phases  of 
his  work  that  occupy  most  of  his  time  represent  his  activities  in 
the  schools  and  in  the  public  dispensaries.  He  aims  to  visit 
each  school  in  the  county  once  a  year,  pick  out  the  pupils  that 

^  I 


RURAL  AMERICA 

are  defective,  get  in  touch  with  the  parents  of  these  pupils, 
that  their  defects,  as  far  as  possible,  may  be  corrected,  and 
give  talks  and  illustrated  lectures  for  the  benefit  of  both 
pupils  and  parents.  He  also  designates  certain  places  in  the 
county  where,  at  given  times,  he  will  meet  all  persons  who 
may  desire  to  be  vaccinated  against  small-pox  or  typhoid 
fever  or  consult  him  privately  either  about  their  own  health 
or  about  any  matter  having  to  do  with  the  sanitary  welfare 
of  the  county.  In  these  interviews  he  is  able  to  discover 
incipient  diseases  that  in  many  cases  would  prove  fatal  if 
neglected.  Of  course  all  other  work  in  the  field  of  sanitation 
in  the  county  would  represent  part  of  the  duties  of  the  county 
agent. 

It  is  estimated  that  20  per  cent  of  all  school  children  have 
defective  vision,  5  per  cent  defective  hearing  and  5  per  cent 
adenoids.  It  is  further  found  that,  in  the  average  county  of 
30,000  inhabitants,  there  are  540  annual  deaths,  200  of  which 
are  preventable,  and  that,  on  an  average,  one  person  out  of 
ten  is  sick  every  day  in  the  year.  Now,  if  the  average  human 
life  is  worth  to  the  community  $1,700  (the  estimate  of  ex- 
perts) then  the  loss  per  annum  to  a  county  of  30,000  in  pre- 
ventable death  is  the  astounding  sum  of  $340,000.  And  this 
sum  can  be  greatly  increased  if  there  be  added  to  it  the  loss 
due  to  sickness,  doctors'  bills  and  undertakers'  fees.  If  the 
health  officer  is  able  to  reduce  the  death  rate  only  one  per 
thousand,  he  saves  his  community  the  large  sum  of  $51,000, 
giving  only  the  value  of  the  individuals  saved  and  considering 
none  of  the  many  items  that  would  greatly  increase  the  sum. 
This  work  is  initiated  by  the  state,  but  executed  through 
the  county  machinery.  The  average  county  has  one  murder 
a  year,  and  in  many  cases  thousands  of  dollars  are  spent  in 
bringing  the  criminal  to  justice.  Nor  can  a  county  be  blamed 
for  keeping  court  procedure  on  a  high  plane.  But  an  in- 
finitely greater  work  is  that  of  conserving  human  life  through 
preventive  measures  and  thus  saving  the  county  untold  wealth 
that  through  carelessness  and  neglect  is  forever  lost. 

The  importance  of  a  health  agent  for  a  county  may  be  seen 

8s 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

in  the  following  case :  In  a  certain  school  two  girls  were 
among  the  most  healthy  and  brightest-looking  of  all  the  pupils. 
These  girls  later  went  to  college,  but  were  forced  within  a 
year  to  abandon  their  college  work  on  account  of  their  eyes. 
The  diagnosis  of  the  oculist  was  to  the  effect  that  if  these 
girls'  eyes  had  been  examined  when  they  were  children  and  if 
the  defects  had  been  corrected  at  that  time,  they  would  have 
been  able  to  complete  their  college  education  and  would  not 
have  been  handicapped  all  through  life  as  a  result  of  impaired 
vision.  In  China  the  doctor  is  paid  not  for  attending  patients 
when  sick  but  for  keeping  them  well.  In  this  country  more 
and  more  attention  is  being  given  to  the  great  work  of  keeping 
people  well.i 

B.  The  County  Hospital  Movement 

The  first  county  hospital  law  was  passed  by  the  Iowa  legis- 
lature in  1909,  and  the  first  county  hospital  in  the  state  was 
estabhshed  in  Washington  County  the  following  year.  Four 
other  states,  viz.,  North  Carolina,  Texas,  Kansas  and  Indiana, 
have  passed  similar  laws,  and  in  still  other  states  the 
desirability  of  such  a  statute  is  being  considered.  New 
York  has  a  township  hospital  law  patterned  after  the  Iowa 
county  law.  North  Carolina  is  proving  to  be  one  of  the 
most  aggressive  states  in  the  Union  in  the  matter  of  con- 
serving the  health  of  its  people.  Texas,  with  four  counties 
arranging  for  hospitals;  Kansas,  with  many  counties  inter- 
ested, and  Indiana,  with  one  or  more  large  projects  on  hand, 
indicate  encouraging  progress  in  the  movement.  The  origina- 
tor of  the  county  hospital  idea  is  Dr.  E.  E.  Hunger,  of 
Spencer,  Iowa.  Like  most  country  doctors  he  had  lost  many 
cases  that  might  have  been  saved  if  the  country  offered  a  man 
as  fair  a  chance  for  life  as  the  city  affords.  His  sympathy 
went  out  to  those  country  patients,  and  their  disadvantage 
oppressed  him.  He  knew  that  many  of  these  rural  deaths 
would  be  preventable  if  there  were  adequate  facilities  at  hand 


^  The   data   contained   in   the   several   preceding   paragraphs   were   fur- 
nished the  writer  by  the  North  Carolina  State  Board  of  Health.  \ 

86 


RURAL  AMERICA 

for  proper  surgical  or  medical  treatment.  Since  these  facili- 
ties were  lacking  he  was  forced  to  see  men  and  women  and 
children  die  unnecessarily,  and  he  cared  tremendously.  The 
doctor  in  speaking  of  the  county  hospital  said :  "  It  will  be 
conducted  on  a  strictly  ethical  basis  and  made  the  community 
health  center,  from  which  health  information  will  be  dis- 
seminated by  both  precept  and  example.  Its  equipment  will 
be  complete  with  every  facility  for  up-to-date  work;  it  will 
have  a  pathological  and  bacteriological  laboratory,  which 
should  be  auxiliary  to  the  laboratory  of  the  State  Board  of 
Health;  it  will  confer  great  benefits  on  both  patients  and 
physicians  through  an  X-ray  laboratory;  it  will  provide 
ambulance  service,  and  it  will  have  a  training-school  for 
nurses."  ^ 

Two  additional  advantages  of  a  county  hospital  in  a  rural 
county  might  be  mentioned.  It  will  greatly  raise  the  standards 
of  the  medical  profession  of  the  county,  and,  as  a  health 
clearing-house  of  the  entire  citizenship  of  the  county,  it  will 
not  only  effect  a  saving  of  life  in  many  cases  where  life  would 
otherwise  be  sacrificed,  but  it  will  render  equally  great  service 
in  the  field  of  prevention  and  sanitation. 

In  many  rural  communities  of  a  number  of  states  there  are 
found  hospitals  that  are  operated  either  privately  or  under  the 
direction  of  churches  or  other  organizations  or  associations. 
One  of  the  most  notable  of  these  is  nearing  completion  in 
Van  Wert  County,  Ohio,  and  bears  the  name  The  Van  Wert 
County  Hospital.  The  funds  for  this  hospital  were  provided 
by  a  public-spirited  man  of  large  means,  George  H.  Marsh, 
who  is  investing  about  $75,000  in  the  hospital  grounds,  build- 
ing, equipment  and  nurses'  home.  The  institution  will,  when 
finished,  be  as  well  adapted  for  the  purposes  for  which  it  is 
intended  as  possibly  any  other  rural  hospital  in  the  country. 
Another  benefactor  left  an  endowment  of  $25,000  for  this 
hospital,  which,  since  the  experience  of  the  two  Iowa  county 
hospitals  shows  that  it  is  possible  to  operate  such  an  institu- 


1  See  The  World's  Work,  September,   19 15,  p.  605. 

87 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

tion  with  little  or  no  deficit,  will  be  able  to  do  a  county-wide 
work  without  fear  of  annual  shortage. 

C.  Other  Health  Movements 

It  would  be  impossible  even  to  mention  the  scores  of 
activities  carried  on  by  many,  many  different  agencies  —  such 
as  the  great  foundations,  large  estates  dedicated  to  welfare 
work,  churches,  societies  and  individuals  —  that  have  to  do 
'with  raising  health  standards  in  the  United  States.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  the  preventable  death  and  sickness  loss  of  the 
nation  greatly  exceeds  the  stupendous  sum  of  two  billion 
dollars  annually.  The  main  purpose  of  the  health  activities 
of  the  nation  is  to  reduce  this  large  sum,  fully  twice  the 
national  debt,  to  a  minimum  and  at  the  same  time  vastly 
increase  the  aggregate  vitality,  efficiency  and  happiness  of 
the  country's  hundred  million  inhabitants. 

D.  Eugenics 

There  is  a  movement  in  Rural  America,  which,  though  in 
its  incipiency,  deserves  consideration.  Possibly  one  is  going 
too  far  in  calling  it  a  movement.  But  all  persons  somewhat 
conversant  with  the  agricultural  literature  of  the  nation  must 
admit  that,  whether  or  not  the  activities  to  which  reference  is 
made  represent  an  incipient  movement,  there  are  noticeable 
manifestations  of  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  whole  Rural 
World  to  produce  in  coming  generations  a  more  perfect 
human  stock.  In  recent  years  eugenics  has  been  the  subject 
of  much  thought  throughout  the  whole  country.  To  such  an 
extent  have  the  people  taken  it  up  that  in  several  states  laws 
have  been  passed.  In  some  cases  these  have  been  too  radical. 
But  a  beginning  has  been  made  that  in  due  time  will  result  in 
much  good.  ''  Ninety-six  per  cent  of  the  young  of  wild  ani- 
mals are  born  perfect.  Eighty-two  per  cent  of  children  are 
physically  defective  at  birth.  Ninety-two  per  cent  of  animals 
live  to  old  age.  229  children  out  of  1,000  die  the  first  year. 
There  are  310,000  feeble-minded  in  the  United  States  outside 
•of  asylums  and  28,000  feeble-minded  in  asylums.    There  are 

88 


RURAL  AMERICA 

168,000  insane  and  epileptics.  Every  time  we  double  our  popu- 
lation we  quadruple  our  mentally  defective."  ^ 

Now,  the  attitude  of  Rural  America  on  eugenics  is  some- 
what different  from  that  of  Urban  America  because  of  one 
important  fact.  In  recent  years  much  attention  has  been 
given  by  farmers  all  over  the  country  to  the  matter  of  pure- 
bred live  stock.  Today  thousands  of  farmers  in  almost  every 
state,  compared  with  only  a  handful  just  a  few  years  ago,  are 
giving  their  best  thought  to  the  matter  of  producing  the  finest 
type  of  all  kinds  of  farm  animals  through  intelligent  breeding. 
Farmers  have  learned  from  experience  that  it  pays  to  pro- 
duce such  stock,  and  the  only  reason  why  the  number  already 
engaged  in  the  business  does  not  increase  more  rapidly  is 
because  of  the  large  outlay  of  money  necessary  in  the  begin- 
ning. But  in  spite  of  this  handicap  each  year  the  number 
increases.  At  the  present  time  the  collective  sentiment  of 
Rural  America  is  favorable  to  and  enthusiastic  for  pure-bred 
live  stock.  In  fact,  there  is  little  doubt  that  agricultural 
America  is  entering  upon  a  period  when  pure-bred  live  stock 
will  be  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception. 

With  the  sentiment  in  the  matter  of  breeding  farm  animals 
so  universal  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  America, 
it  is  quite  natural  that  some  thought  should  be  given  to  the 
subject  of  human  stock.  So  along  with  the  movement  to 
produce  the  highest  type  of  farm  animals  of  all  kinds,  there 
is  beginning  to  develop  a  sentiment  favorable  to  the  produc- 
tion of  a  finer  human  stock.  It  is  the  universality  of  this 
sentiment  that  has  led  to  its  crystallization  in  the  laws  of  a 
number  of  states.  People  have  progressed  sufficiently  in  this 
country  to  enable  them  to  give  attention  to  matters  other  than 
those  having  to  do  almost  solely  with  making  a  living.  They 
have  begun  to  realize  that  if  further  advancement  is  to  be 
made  the  average  American  citizen  must  be  a  finer  specimen 
of  humanity,  since  the  nation  is  no  better  than  the  sum  of 
one  hundred  million  individuals,  and  the  only  way  to  make 
a  finer  composite  man  is  to  make  a  finer  individual  man. 


^  See  The  Mountain  State  Bulletin. 

89 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

One  thing  is  quite  certain,  America  should  have  her  atten- 
tion directed  to  the  need  of  a  finer  citizenship,  not  so  much 
to  stimulate  the  passage  of  radical  laws  as  to  create  a  public 
sentiment  that  will  find  expression  in  accomplishment.  What 
with  the  heterogeneous  character  of  the  nation's  metropolitan 
population,  which  represents  admixtures  of  races  and  peoples 
that  come  from  parts  of  the  world  where  the  struggle  for 
mere  existence  has  been  the  one  thing  commanding  the  atten- 
tion of  the  great  majority  of  the  people,  thus  preventing  the 
development  of  the  higher  sentiments,  it  is  imperative  that 
America  give  the  matter  of  eugenics  careful  consideration. 
It  is  generally  recognized  that  America  in  undertaking  the 
assimilation  of  almost  all  the  peoples  of  earth  has  assumed 
a  tremendous  task.  But  the  other  task  of  developing  a 
higher  average  stock  is  equally  difficult.  Anyone  who  has 
come  a  good  deal  into  contact  with  people,  wherever  found,  in 
the  city  as  well  as  in  the  country,  is  almost  appalled  at  the 
great  amount  of  mediocrity  and  even  sub-normality. 

The  following  beautiful  stanza  is  found  in  Prof.  G.  W. 
Fiske's  illuminating  little  book,  "  Boy  Life." 

A  fire-mist  and  a  planet, 

A  crystal  and  a  cell, 

A  jelly-fish  and  a  saurian, 

And   caves   where   cave  men   dwell; 

Then  a  sense  of  law  and  beauty, 

And  a  face  turned  from  a  clod; 

Some  call  it  evolution, 

But  others  call  it  God. 

How  inspiring  the  thought  that  the  Infinite  God,  Who 
presided  over  this  great  world  process,  is  not  satisfied  with 
the  composite  human  being  that  inhabits  the  earth  today! 
Back  of  the  face  turned  from  a  clod  is  a  mind,  and  in  that 
mind  there  is  an  irresistible  longing  to  rise  to  higher  levels 
in  response  to  higher  voices.  And  in  God's  own  time  this 
longing  will  come  to  realization. 


90 


RURAL  AMERICA 

E.  Temperance 

The  greatest  moral  movement  of  the  past  generation  is  that 
of  temperance.  Twenty  years  ago  the  temperance  map  of 
the  United  States  was  almost  as  black  as  Stygian  night. 
Today  there  are  nineteen  white  states,  with  the  prospect  of 
many  others  in  the  course  of  the  next  decade.  Nine  or  ten 
states  expect  to  vote  in  1916.  Besides  the  nineteen  states  in 
which  the  sale  of  liquor  is  prohibited,  all  the  other  states  have 
prohibition  territory.  More  than  half  the  nation's  popula- 
tion live  in  temperance  areas,  and  when  all  the  laws  that 
have  been  passed  become  effective  there  will  be  no  saloons  in 
nine-tenths  of  the  country.  Of  course  this  means  that  Rural 
America  is  almost  all  temperance  territory,  since  the  ten  per 
cent  of  the  land  where  the  saloons  are  permitted  under  the 
law  consists,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  metropolitan  centers 
and  contiguous  territory,  with  the  exception  of  the  two  great 
Western  States,  Montana  and  Nevada,  which  have  large  wet 
areas.  As  soon  as  the  agricultural  population  of  these  two 
states  has  increased  sufficiently,  they  will  likely  join  many  of 
the  other  western  states  and  make  the  West  almost  solidly 
dry.  The  one  thought  that  needs  emphasis  here  is  the 
thought  that  it  is  Rural  America  that  is  leading  the  way  in 
making  America  a  saloonless  nation. 

Public  sentiment  is  an  irresistible  force.  Today  public 
sentiment  against  the  open  saloon  is  crystallizing  with  marvel- 
ous rapidity,  and,  when  it  has  once  crystallized  throughout 
the  nation,  the  saloon  will  be  doomed.  For  the  sake  of  the 
welfare  of  100,000,000  people  an  infinite  multitude  is  praying 
to  God  that  the  day  may  be  hastened. 

The  transformation  wrought  in  a  county  which  has  abolished 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  liquor  is  set  forth  in  the  follow- 
ing paragraph  from  a  speech  made  by  Congressman  Webb, 
of  North  Carolina: 

"  About  ten  years  ago,  I  stood  on  historic  King  Mountain, 
and  saw  the  smoke  of  thirty-eight  government  distilleries 
rising  toward  heaven.  I  saw  no  macadamized  roads ;  scarcely 
a   schoolhouse   where   our  boys   and   girls   might   obtain  the 

91 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

rudiments  of  an  education.  I  saw  saloons  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  Gaston  County.  There  were  only  two 
or  three  factories  giving  employment  to  two  or  three  hundred 
people.  Two  years  ago,  about  ten  years  after  the  people  had 
driven  out  this  curse,  I  went  back.  I  found  macadamized 
roads  in  almost  every  part  of  the  county;  I  saw  magnificent 
churches  of  every  denomination ;  I  found  schoolhouses  in 
every  district.  There  was  not  the  smoke  of  a  single  brewery, 
and  instead  of  the  smoke  of  thirty-eight  government  distil- 
leries I  saw  ascending  to  the  glory  of  God  in  business  the 
smoke  of  forty-eight  of  the  largest  cotton  factories  in  the 
United  States  of  America." 

And  that  is  the  transformation  that,  on  a  larger  scale,  will 
be  witnessed  in  America  a  decade  after  the  banishment  of 
the  saloon  from  her  borders. 

F.  Dietetics 

There  is  scarcely  an  intelligently  trained  farmer  in  the 
United  States  that  could  not  define  the  term  "balanced 
ration."  From  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other  farmers 
understand  pretty  well  the  meaning  of  a  balanced  ration  in 
the  feeding  of  live  stock,  and  have  become  informed  on  the 
nutritive  value  of  various  feeds.  The  result  has  been  that  the 
putting  of  all  kinds  of  stock  in  prime  condition  for  the 
market  at  a  minimum  cost,  the  keeping  of  work  animals 
ready  for  service  with  the  most  economic  use  of  grain,  hay, 
etc.,  the  securing  of  the  greatest  butter- fat  returns  from  cows 
with  the  least  consumption  of  high-priced  food  products,  the 
obtaining  of  large  tgg  yields  from  poultry  with  scarcely  more 
than  the  utilization  of  the  odds  and  ends  of  the  farm,  have 
received  the  most  careful  consideration  by  all  successful 
rural  life  residents.  But  the  thing  that  has  been  neglected  is 
human  dietetics.  Most  people  in  both  country  and  city  eat 
too  much,  without  thought  of  what  constitutes  a  balanced 
ration.  On  the  farm  food  of  all  kinds  is  cooked  in  large 
quantities  and  eaten  with  a  hearty  appetite.  On  threshing 
days,  when  the   work  is   especially  strenuous,  the  threshers 


RURAL  AMERICA 

partake  of  fully  a  score  of  dishes,  some  of  which  are  hard  to 
digest,  with  the  result  that  they  are  unfitted  for  work  and 
must  force  themselves  to  do  their  part.  Not  only  do  country 
folk  eat  too  much,  but  what  they  eat  is  sometimes  not  pre- 
pared so  well  as  it  might  be,  even  though  the  expression 
"  good  country  dinner "  is  often  heard  in  the  cities.  The 
impression  should  not  be  given  that  the  country  is  more  at 
fault  than  the  cities  in  the  matter  of  failure  to  observe  the 
rules  of  dietetics,  because  the  country  does  on  the  whole 
better  than  the  cities.  But  if  just  as  much  attention  were 
given  to  human  dietetics  as  is  given  to  the  matter  of  a  "  bal- 
anced ration  "  for  the  live  stock  of  the  farm,  money  would 
be  saved,  in  that  less  food  would  be  eaten  and  less  money 
would  be  spent  for  patent  medicines  and  doctors'  services. 

The  Great  War,  which  has  forced  the  so-called  Central 
Powers  to  depend  almost  solely  upon  their  own  resources  in 
the  matter  of  food,  has  led  Germany  to  the  most  extensive 
experiments  in  dietetics  in  the  history  of  the  world.  The 
study  of  the  question  has  been  in  the  hands  of  sixteen  special- 
ists and  their  prehminary  report  is  published  under  the  title, 
"The  Food  Supply  of  the  German  People  and  the  English 
Starvation  Plan."  Possibly  future  historians  will  conclude 
that  the  chief  by-product  of  the  War  was  the  progress  made 
in  the  solution  of  the  greatest  problem  with  which  the  human 
race  has  to  deal,  the  problem  of  food  supply.  The  findings 
of  this  learned  committee  will  be  of  value  to  the  whole  world. 


93 


5.  Love 

The  night  has  a  thousand  eyes  and  the  day  but  one, 
But  the  light  of  the  whole  world  dies  with  the  dying  sun ; 
The  mind  has  a  thousand  eyes  and  the  heart  but  one; 
But  the  light  of  the  whole  world  dies  when  love  is  gone. 

The  most  perfect  abiding  place  of  love  is  the  home.  And 
love  is  the  constant  inmate  of  only  such  homes  as  make  a 
strong  appeal  to  their  members.  The  appeal  within  the  home 
depends  on  the  mother.  Some  time  ago  a  lady  from  the 
country  signing  herself  "A  Rural  Juliet"  contributed  an 
article  to  Wallaces'  Farmer  entitled,  "  How  May  We  Keep 
Our  Husbands  Romeos?  "  This  article  is  most  interesting  and 
its  conclusions  hold  good  in  city  and  country  alike. 

"  Romeo,  the  literary  cognomen  of  lovers,  is  a  word  that 
has  been  much  abused.  We  would  not  have  our  husbands 
merely  sighing  sweethearts.  We  want  them  to  accomplish 
great  things  through  the  sympathy  and  inspiration  which  we 
can  give  them.  We  want  them  to  be  successful  business  men, 
and  an  aid  to  the  community.  If  our  husbands  exert  an 
influence  for  good,  this  is  sure  to  be  felt  beyond  the  home 
community.  If  our  husbands  are  great,  and  we  keep  them 
still  lovers,  then  we  shall  have  a  reflected  greatness,  which 
is  more  than  to  be  great  ourselves.  That  was  the  original 
idea  God  had  when  He  created  woman.  She  was  to  be  a: 
helper  rather  than  the  leader;  but  if  she  is  to  be  a  helper, 
she  must  have  the  honor  and  respect  to  which  she  is  entitled. 
She  does  not  always  have  this  honor  and  respect  from  her 
husband,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  she  has  of  late  years,  in 
many  instances,  taken  the  initiative. 

"How  can  a  wife  keep  her  husband  a  lover  through  life? 
Many  women,  in  the  rural  districts  especially,  allow  their 
husbands  to  come  from  work  in  the  evening  and  find  them 
still  in  morning  wrapper  and  with  hair  disarranged.    One  is 

94 


RURAL  AMERICA 

much  more  attractive  if  she  wear  a  becoming  little  one-piece 
dress  and  her  hair  is  combed.  Then,  what  an  improvement 
it  is  if  the  table  is  neat  and  adorned  with  a  small  bouquet  of 
flowers !  Let  the  home  be  filled  with  brightness  and  the 
husband's  mind  be  got  off  the  sordid,  practical  things  of  life. 
Let  him  never  be  met  with  complaint  and  a  recital  of  the 
troubles  of  the  day.  Let  a  husband  who  is  tired  and  dirty 
and  hot  and  possibly  cross,  come  in  from  the  field  and  find  a 
neat  and  tidy  home,  presided  over  by  a  trim  little  wife  and 
adorned  by  children  with  clean  faces  and  with  everything  in 
readiness  for  a  good  hot  supper  served  on  an  attractive  table, 
and  one  has  a  candidate  for  the  role  of  Romeo.  Pretty  soon 
that  good  man  sits  up  and  takes  notice,  and  then  he  begins  to 
be  more  careful,  and  finally  he  wants  his  cold  plunge  and 
some  clean  clothes  before  he  is  willing  to  sit  down  at  the 
table.  But  even  though  he  does  continue  to  neglect  his  own 
personal  appearance  he  loves  his  wife  more  for  trying  to 
please  him. 

"  If  a  man  is  able,  he  should  employ  a  girl  to  help  with  the 
work,  so  his  wife  can  have  more  time  for  him  and  the  chil- 
dren. If  he  is  not  able,  then  the  wife  should  not  make  a 
drudge  of  herself  for  the  house,  but  should  let  some  things 
go.  What  if  the  house  is  not  swept  every  day?  What  if 
there  is  a  trace  of  dust  on  the  furniture  now  and  then?  Above 
all  things,  she  should  keep  herself  attractive.  Then,  it  is 
necessary  to  take  a  little  time  to  cultivate  one's  mind,  that 
one  may  be  a  real  companion  to  her  husband.  A  wife  should 
study  her  husband's  greatest  pleasures  and  try  to  enter  into 
them  with  zest.  A  man  would  rather  come  home  and  find  a 
smiling,  happy  wife,  with  a  sparkle  in  her  eye  at  his  return, 
than  to  find  the  home  spotless  and  his  wife  a  bundle  of  nerves. 

"  And  this  thing  of  farmers  spending  evenings  lounging 
around  some  country  store,  or  playing  cards  in  the  back  of 
the  barber  shop,  can  be  stopped  if  the  wife  tries.  If  the 
husband  says,  '  I'm  going  down  town  this  evening,'  the  wife 
might  add,  *  Well,  just  a  minute  and  the  children  and  I  will 
go  with  you.'     Or  ask  him  if  he  wouldn't  like  to  telephone 

95 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

some  of  his  friends,  and  have  them  come  out  and  spend  the 
evening,  or  just  mention  the  fact  of  having  read  such  an 
interesting  article  on  such  and  such  a  subject.  Wouldn't  he 
like  to  have  it  read  aloud  that  night?  Or  suggest  a  ride 
together  in  the  soft  evening  twilight.  Let  almost  anything 
be  done  so  long  as  there  is  an  appeal  to  the  family  spirit. 
Occasionally  let  someone  keep  the  children,  while  a  short  trip 
is  taken  to  the  nearest  large  town  or  city  to  hear  some  good 
music,  to  mix  and  mingle  with  the  crowds,  for  the  sake  of  a 
good  time  and  to  broaden  one's  outlook  on  life. 

"If  the  husband  has  a  business  proposition  that  is  troubling 
him  and  he  shows  an  inclination  to  talk  of  it  he  should  be 
encouraged  to  do  so,  and  perhaps  some  suggestion  of  the  wife 
will  give  him  an  idea  that  had  never  occurred  to  him.  How 
unfortunate  the  statement,  '  Oh,  don't  bother  me  with  busi- 
ness; I  don't  have  time  for  such  things.'  A  wife  who  takes 
an  intelligent  interest  in  whatever  concerns  her  husband  is 
honored  for  her  interest. 

"  Sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  gently  reprimand  one's  hus- 
band, if  he  becomes  too  lax  in  small  courtesies,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, *  Dear,  hadn't  you  noticed  that  I  dropped  my  hand- 
kerchief?' or  'Did  you  forget  to  assist  me  into  the  buggy?' 
One  probably  would  not  have  to  call  his  attention  to  such  little 
matters  many  times  until  he  would  remember  himself.  Some- 
times, too,  it  is  necessary  to  show  some  spirit  at  a  slight  or 
hurt  that  could  have  been  avoided.  If  it  is  necessary,  let 
there  be  some  resentment,  but  no  pouting  or  nagging.  But 
most  important  of  all  is :  courtesy  and  affection  in  oneself 
encourage  them  in  others.  Once  a  wife  asked  her  husband 
what  it  was  he  loved  in  her  so  much,  after  years  of  married 
life  had  taken  the  bloom  from  her  cheek  and  the  sparkle  from 
her  eye.  She  was  not  such  a  fine  housekeeper  as  some  others, 
either.  He  replied :  *  It  is  your  spirit,  my  dear,  your  spirit. 
That's  what  I  have  admired  all  these  years,'  and  he  gently  , 
and  reverently  kissed  her." 

A  home  in  which  there  is  a  Juliet  is  sure  to  be  a  happy 
home.     And  such  a  home  will  be  a  model  not  only  on  the 

96 


RURAL  AMERICA 

inside  but  on  the  outside  as  well,  because  where  ideal  condi- 
tions prevail  within  they  are  sure  in  time  to  prevail  without. 
The  husband  that  loves  the  home  which  his  wife  makes  so 
attractive  for  him  on  the  inside  is  pretty  sure  to  take  an 
interest  in  making  the  home  attractive  on  the  outside.  He 
will  keep  all  the  buildings  on  the  farm  in  repair  and  painted, 
he  will  keep  the  lawn  mowed  and  the  grounds  around  the 
buildings  neat  and  tidy,  he  will  keep  the  fence  rows  clean 
and  the  whole  farm  in  presentable  shape.  Finally,  he  will 
become  so  interested  that  he  will  devote  a  little  time  to  land- 
scape gardening,  that  the  farm  may  not  only  be  his  means  of 
livelihood  but  contribute  to  the  aesthetic  pleasures  of  his 
whole  family. 

Everyone  knows  that  when  one  must  do  his  very  best  to 
make  a  living  and  is  almost  constantly  treading  dangerously 
close  to  the  poverty  line,  he  has  little  time  for  the  aesthetic 
values  of  life.  But  statisticians  assert  that  not  one-tenth  of 
the  people  of  this  country  are  either  on  or  below  the  poverty 
level,  and  most  of  this  per  cent  are  to  be  found  in  the  cities; 
so  there  are  comparatively  few  people  living  in  Rural  America 
with  whom  the  economic  problem  is  so  assertive  that  there  is 
no  time  for  life's  finer  things.  In  reality,  there  are  few 
people  in  the  whole  country  unable  to  rise  somewhat  if  they 
will.  During  the  disastrous  retreat  of  Napoleon  from  Mos- 
cow in  1812  there  presented  himself  one  morning  to  Napoleon 
one  of  his  generals  shaved  and  neatly  dressed.  Because  of 
his  neat  personal  appearance,  under  distressing  circumstances, 
Napoleon  looked  at  him  and  said,  "  General,  you  are  a  great 
man."  Many  and  many  an  attractive  home  in  Rural  America 
represents  real  greatness  on  the  part  of  the  inmates  because 
of  the  economic  struggle  that  takes  almost  all  the  time  and 
strength  of  the  family. 

Really,  the  marked  improvement  that  is  taking  place  in 
Rural  America  today  in  aesthetics  had  in  most  cases  its  origin 
among  the  mothers  who  were  Juliets  to  admiring  Romeos. 
First  comes  economic  independence.  Then  comes  the  beauti- 
fying of  the  little  home.     Then  follows  community  improve- 

97 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

ment.  This  is  the  reason  why  there  is  as  much  need  of  the 
rural  Y.  W.  C.  A.  as  there  is  of  the  rural  Y.  M.  C.  A.  In  a 
way  there  is  a  greater  need.  When  the  first  county  Y.  W.  C. 
A.  was  building,  a  man  of  prominence  expressed  the  opinion 
that  there  was  little  demand  for  such  an  institution.  He 
failed  utterly  to  understand  that  a  nation  can  rise  no  higher 
than  its  homes  and  the  one  great  purpose  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
is  to  elevate  the  home  life  of  the  nation. 

Thousands  of  young  women  seek  employment  today.  A 
very  large  class  of  them  become  employees  of  shops,  factories 
and  mills ;  an  equally  large  class  become  bookkeepers,  stenog- 
raphers and  clerks;  a  third  class  become  teachers  or  adopt 
similar  callings.  A  study  of  the  laws  of  the  various  states 
soon  convinces  one  that  much  attention  has  been  given  in 
recent  years  to  the  employment  of  women  in  shop,  factory 
and  mill.  A  great  deal  has  also  been  done  to  better  the 
condition  of  young  women  clerks,  stenographers  and  book- 
keepers. And,  finally,  the  vocation  of  teaching  and  similar 
callings  adopted  by  young  women  have  in  many  cases  been 
made  much  more  attractive  as  well  as  profitable.  In  these 
three  classes  of  work  in  the  labor,  business  and  professional 
worlds,  young  women  are  enjoying  greater  advantages  from 
year  to  year.  In  all  three  the  hours  of  labor  are  in  many 
states  fixed  and  the  number  of  hours  has  been  reduced  from 
time  to  time.  In  all  three  surroundings  have  been  improved. 
In  all  three  wages  have  been  increased.  In  all  three  the 
physical,  mental  and  moral  welfare  of  the  employees  is  receiv- 
ing more  and  more  attention.  In  all  three  opportunities  are 
given  to  advance. 

But,  unfortunately,  employment  in  the  home,  which  in  the 
past  has  especially  appealed  to  young  women  from  Rural 
America,  has  not  shared  in  the  advantages  that  have  made 
more  attractive  the  other  callings  adopted  by  young  women. 
The  collective  happiness  of  the  American  people  is,  to  a  large 
extent,  dependent  on  helpers  in  tens  of  thousands  of  homes. 
This  being  true,  let  the  same  attention  be  given  to  the  calling 
of  household  service  and  the  same  efforts  be  put   forth  to 

98 


RURAL  AMERICA 

regulate  it  and  render  it  both  profitable  and  attractive  and  it 
will  become  a  vocation  in  which  young  women  will  take  pride 
in  becoming  more  efficient.  As  a  woman's  calling  it  has 
advantages  over  other  vocations.  It  preeminently  fits  a  young 
woman  to  manage  a  home  of  her  own  and  the  natural  ambition 
of  every  young  woman  is  to  preside  over  a  home  of  her  own. 
Household  service  is  a  healthful  vocation.  The  monotony 
and  drudgery  of  the  factory,  mill  and  shop,  the  lack  of 
proper  exercise  taken  by  the  clerk,  bookkeeper,  stenographer, 
and  the  strain  of  teaching  and  similar  callings,  lead  to  the 
breakdown  of  thousands  of  young  women  annually.  More- 
over, a  household  employee,  receiving  reasonable  wages,  can, 
as  a  rule,  save  more  money  than  can  be  saved  by  young 
women  engaged  in  any  other  line  of  work,  since  her  board, 
room,  etc.,  are  provided.  But  the  important  thought  here  is 
the  following:  Placing  on  a  better  basis  this  honorable 
calling  will  add  an  element  of  strength  to  America's  homes, 
the  bulwark  of  the  nation. 


99 


6.  Rest 

The  greatest  passion  of  the  resident  of  the  city  is  getting 
out  into  the  country  occasionally  for  the  sake  of  a  rest.  The 
city  is  so  full  of  hurry  and  change  and  activity  and  strain 
that  if  one  would  not  either  temporarily  or  permanently 
impair  his  physical  reserve  he  must  periodically  seek  recupera- 
tion in  some  quiet  retreat  of  Rural  America.  A  synonym  of 
city  is  fiux.  On  the  other  hand,  one  finds  in  the  country 
absence  of  all  those  things  that  enter  into  the  intensity  of 
city  life.  But  the  impression  is  quite  general,  especially  in 
the  city,  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  drudgery  in  the  country. 

Too  much  has  been  made  in  the  past  of  the  drudgery  of 
country  life.  Life  in  the  country  has  no  more  drudgery  than 
life  in  the  city.  All  life  is  full  of  drudgery,  and  unless  one 
have  his  share  of  it  he  will  fail  to  develop  symmetrically. 
The  poet  who  laboriously  corrects  his  manuscript  and  gives 
the  very  best  effort  of  his  life  to  the  clothing  of  immortal 
thoughts  in  immortal  verse  is  experiencing  drudgery.  It  is 
said  of  Wordsworth  that  he  often  dreaded  the  drudgery  of 
poetic  composition  and  found  the  task  of  writing  very  labor- 
ious. The  chemist  in  his  laboratory  encounters  drudgery  of 
the  most  trying  kind.  The  teacher  or  professor  in  correcting 
papers  and  compositions  and  in  doing  many  other  things  that 
his  work  demands,  comes  to  understand  drudgery.  The 
banker  has  an  endless  amount  of  detail  in  his  work,  much  of 
which  is  annoying.  The  trained  nurse,  the  physician,  the 
minister,  in  short,  everybody  who  works  undergoes  drudgery. 
No  one  has  a  monopoly  of  drudgery.  "  Of  all  the  work  that 
produces  results,"  said  a  famous  English  Bishop,  "  nine-tenths 
must  be  drudgery."  i  There  is  no  work,  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  that  can  be  done  well  by  anyone  who  is  afraid  of 
drudgery.     The   average  person  understands   most  perfectly 


^  Philip  G.  Hamerton,  "  The  Intellectual  Life,"  p.  70. 
100 


RURAL  AMERICA ^,^  ,    .  , 

the  drudgery  in  his  own  work  but  sees  only  the  brighter  side 
of  the  other  fellow's  work.  But  drudgery  is  always  asso- 
ciated with  exhilaration:  the  pendulum  swings  just  as  far 
one  way  as  it  does  the  other.  If  one  submits  to  a  good  deal 
of  drudgery  the  compensation  lies  in  the  marvelous  spiritual 
rebound  of  a  mountain-top  variety. 

In  a   little   poem   entitled   "  Drudgery   Divine "   Juliet   Sill 
gives  utterance  to  some  inspiring  thoughts  on  this  subject: 

O'  bumblebee,  on  the  red-topped  clover, 
Aren't  you  tired,  you  busy  rover, 
Of  doing  the  same  thing  over  and  over? 
Gathering  honey  all  day  long. 
Singing  the  same  little  humming  song, 
Aren't  you  tired,  you  golden  rover, 
Of  doing  the  same  things  over  and  over? 

O  little  bird  with  the  crimson  breast, 
Aren't  you  tired  of  building  the  nest? 
Isn't  it  time  to  stop  and  rest? 

Straw  after  straw  you  patiently  bring, 

Song  after  song  you  cheerily  sing, 
O  little  bird,  in  the  crimson  vest, 
Isn't  it  time  to  take  a  rest? 

O  busy  heart,  O  toiling  mother. 

Aren't  you  tired  of  work  and  of  bother, 

The  same  dull  task  and  never  another? 

Over  and  over  you  brew  and  bake. 

Over  and  over  you  mend  and  make, 
Aren't  you  tired,  O  weary  mother, 
Of  the  same  dull  round  and  never  another? 

Then  low  from  the  heart  of  the  bee  and  the  bird, 
And  low  from  the  heart  of  the  mother  this  word, 
Sweet  and  calm  and  clear  I  heard: 
Over  and  over  God  paints  the  skies, 
Over  and  over  He  makes  the  sun  rise, 
Over  and  over  He  tints  the  flowers. 
Over  and  over  He  sends  the  showers. 
Over  and  over  He  guides  the  stars, 
Over  and  over  the  dawn  unbars. 

lOI 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

If  over  and  over  God  deigns  to  work, 

Why  should  we  faint  —  one  duty  shirk? 

So  over  and  over  our  tasks  we  do, 

Sure  of  reward  if  our  work  be  true. 
This  is  the  message  which  clear  I  heard 
From  the  heart  of  the  mother,  the  bee,  and  the  bird. 

Both  for  perfect  rest  from  the  labors  of  the  day  and  for 
the  purpose  of  building  oneself  up,  the  country  is  ideal.  The 
nights  are  so  quiet  that  anyone  accustomed  to  the  constant 
hum  of  city  life  finds  the  change  delightful.  A  sojourn  in 
the  country  acts  as  a  sedative  and  prepares  the  nervous 
system  for  the  demands  of  the  city.  And  as  the  years  go  by, 
Rural  America  is  contributing  more  and  more  to  the  recupera- 
tion of  the  whole  people.  The  Federal  Government  has  taken 
great  pride  in  setting  aside  thousands  and  millions  of  acres 
in  the  most  attractive  parts  of  the  nation  for  the  pleasure  of 
all.  These  great  reserves  have  been  called  playgrounds,  and 
their  purpose  is  to  bring  the  people  closer  to  Nature's  heart 
and  to  fit  them  for  the  larger  life  of  the  future.  Urbs  is 
coming  to  know  more  and  more  intimately  Rus  and  the  bene- 
fits are  beyond  computation.  The  boundless  acres  of  Rus, 
her  thousands  of  beauty  spots,  her  innumerable  retreats,  are 
transforming  both  Urban  and  Rural  America  and  giving  the 
nation  a  brighter  outlook  on  life. 

What  is  it  in  Rural  America  that  is  contributing  so  much 
to  this  brighter  outlook  on  life?  Is  it  not  her  possession  of 
those  things  in  prodigal  abundance  that  are  the  heritage  of  all 
persons?       Lucy  Larcom  expresses  this  thought  felicitously. 

COMMON   THINGS   OF  EARTH 

I  said  it  on  the  meadow  path, 

I  say  it  on  the  mountain  stairs. 

The  best  things  any  mortal  hath 

Are  those  that  every  mortal  shares. 

The  grass  is  softer  to  our  tread. 

For  rest  it  yields  unnumbered  feet; 

Sweeter  to  us  the  wild  rose  red 

Because  she  makes  the  whole  world  sweet. 

102 


7.   Conclusion 

A  perusal  of  the  preceding  chapter  must  induce  the  con- 
clusion that  several  fundamental  things  are  necessary  if  Rural 
America  would  attain  the  heights  that  lie  within  her  reach, 
and  these  may  be  expressed  in  four  simple  statements:  (i) 
Most  of  the  five  million  renters  and  hired  laborers  of  the 
country  must  become  home  owners.  (2)  Farming  must  be 
put  on  a  profitable  basis.  (3)  Rural  America  must  offer 
careers  to  ambitious  youth.  (4)  An  element  of  romance  must 
be  injected  into  Country  Life. 

(i)  Rural  Home  Owners. —  Some  day  a  plan  will  be  adopted 
that  will  solve  the  home-owner  problem.  It  will  take  time, 
however,  to  work  out  a  satisfactory  plan,  and  the  next 
quarter  of  a  century  is  likely  to  be  one  of  experimentation. 
If  no  more  is  done  within  the  next  few  years  than  simply  to 
put  a  stop  to  the  increase  of  tenants,  much  will  have  been 
accomplished.  A  satisfactory  plan  will  contain  at  least  four 
factors :  the  purchaser  must  pay  no  more  than  the  land  is 
worth ;  he  must  be  given  the  privilege  of  buying  with  a  small 
immediate  payment;  the  rate  of  interest  on  deferred  payments 
must  be  low,  and  the  time  of  the  obligation  must  be  suffi- 
ciently long.  Every  year  Rural  America  is  the  scene  of  thou- 
sands of  tragedies  resulting  from  the  purchase  of  land  at 
speculative  prices  from  soulless  speculators.  These  tragedies 
have  ruined  many  homes,  especially  in  the  newly  developed 
sections.  Many  men  pay  entirely  too  much  for  their  land, 
they  learn  too  late  that  the  promises  of  the  promoter  are 
often  of  the  mirage  variety,  notes  fall  due  with  no  money  to 
pay  them,  high  interest  rates  confront  them,  and  finally  either 
foreclosure  or  forfeiture  stares  them  in  the  face.  This  evil 
has  become  so  serious  in  recent  years  that  a  number  of  states 
are  passing  laws  looking  to  its  elimination,  and  a  number  of 
associations  of  a  philanthropic  character  have  been   formed 

103 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

to  help  all  persons  desirous  of  migrating  to  the  country  to  do 
so  by  a  safe  route. 

The  writer  has  in  recent  years  assisted  a  number  of  young 
men  in  the  purchase  of  homes  in  the  country.  An  average 
industrious  young  man  can,  if  buying  a  farm  at  a  reasonable 
price,  charged  a  low  rate  of  interest  and  given  plenty  of  time 
to  meet  his  obligation,  pay  for  a  good  farm,  even  though  his 
initial  payment  is  small.  This  cannot  be  done,  however,  on 
land  that  has  lost  its  fertility,  except  in  rare  cases.  In  1908  a 
young  man  was  furnished  $5,100  out  of  $5,500  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  6o-acre  farm.  Since  then,  or  in  eight  years,  he 
has  tiled  the  land  reasonably  well,  put  some  money  on  the 
buildings,  considerably  increased  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and 
reduced  his  total  indebtedness  to  $2,100.  In  four  more  years, 
if  he  continues  to  do  equally  well,  he  will  be  entirely  out  of 
debt  and  possess  a  farm  worth  $9,000.  The  important  thing 
is  to  work  out  a  plan,  national  in  its  scope,  that  will  give  all 
deserving  young  men  opportunities  for  the  purchase  of  homes 
in  the  country. 

(2)  Farming  Put  on  a  Profitable  Basis, —  The  four  funda- 
mental things  needed  to  put  farming  on  a  profitable  basis 
with  present  low  yields  per  acre  are  standardizing  farm 
products,  standardizing  containers,  economic  transportation 
and  scientific  selling.  Absence  of  standardization  is  detri- 
mental to  the  sale  of  all  products  and  especially  those  of  a 
high-grade  character.  Every  first-class  farmer  in  the  Corn 
Belt  has  marketed  a  good  many  bushels  of  good  corn  for 
which  the  elevators  have  never  paid  a  sufficient  amount  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  there  is  so  much  poor  corn.  Elevators 
base  their  prices  on  corn  of  average  quality.  In  a  general 
way  this  is  a  rule  all  over  the  Corn  Belt.  The  efforts  which 
the  federal  government,  the  several  states  and  numerous  co- 
operative bodies,  as  well  as  corporations,  are  putting  forth  to 
correct  this  defect  will  eventually  lead  to  the  adoption  of  a 
national  plan.  Federal  and  state  laws  have  also  been  passed 
relative  to  containers,  but  progress  in  this  direction,  too,  is 
just  in  its  incipient  stage.     The  aim  in  the  matter  of  trans- 

104 


RURAL  AMERICA 

portation  must  be,  after  cooperative  assembling  of  farm 
products,  distribution  by  the  shortest  hauls  and  at  a  minimum 
cost.  Hauls  will  be  shortened  only  through  a  better  under- 
standing of  markets.  The  greatest  loss  sustained  by  farmers 
is  due  to  unorganized  selling.  When  the  ten  billion  dollars' 
worth  of  farm  products  are  annually  marketed  in  a  scientific 
manner,  the  greatest  organization  feat  in  the  history  of  the 
world  will  have  been  accomplished;  and  the  success  of 
numerous  cooperative  enterprises  among  farmers  shows  the 
feat  to  be  a  possibility.  B.  F.  Harris,  editor  of  The  Banker- 
Farmer,  says  that  based  on  the  investigations  of  the  Federal 
Department  of  Agriculture  one-third  of  the  farmers  in  the 
prosperous  agricultural  sections  of  the  country,  if  5%  be 
allowed  on  their  working  capital,  are  actually  losing  money. 

(3)  Rural  Careers. —  It  is  very  hard  to  get  an  energetic 
young  man  or  woman  to  go  into  anything  that  apparently  has 
no  future.  In  the  past,  it  has  been  taken  for  granted  that 
only  the  city  oflFered  careers.  Fathers  have  talked  doctor, 
lawyer,  professor  and  the  like  to  the  young  man,  and  stenog- 
rapher, clerk,  nurse,  teacher  and  the  like  to  the  young  woman, 
with  the  result  that  nearly  all  the  ambitious  youth  of  the 
country  have  cast  their  eyes  cityward.  Comparatively  few 
people  have  had  a  vision  of  the  possibilities  of  Rural  America. 
But  now  here  and  there  are  found  men  and  women  who  have 
shown  to  the  world  that  one  can  have  a  career  in  the  country. 
Already  there  have  come  to  be  teachers  and  preachers  and 
other  rural  workers  that  have  accomplished  wonderful  things 
in  Rural  America  and  have  demonstrated  the  bigness  of  the 
field.  It  is  likely  that  within  the  next  few  years  numerous 
instances  of  successful  work  in  Rural  America  will  be  as- 
sembled. When  it  is  shown  what  has  been  and  is  being  done 
in  many  places,  young  men  and  women  will  be  inspired  to 
undertake  work  in  the  rural  field  and  great  good  will  accrue 
from  the  influx  of  capable  leaders  with  a  vision.  This  will 
soon  be  followed  by  a  higher  average  of  leadership  in  Rural 
America,  especially  among  preachers.  Ministers  who  have 
made  a  notable  success  of  certain  rural  churches  will  be  sent, 

105 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

when  it  seems  wise  to  change  pastors,  to  other  rural  churches 
that  have  had  equally  good  pastors.  In  this  way  the  good 
work  of  the  country  will  be  conserved  and  desirable  fields  will 
be  enlarged.  Thus,  in  time,  every  denomination  that  is  suc- 
cessful in  its  country  work  will  have  transformed  many  weak 
rural  churches  into  strong  rural  churches  and  added  to  the 
number  of  its  capable  rural  pastors.  Whenever  weak  men 
are  sent  to  pastoral  flocks,  even  if  they  have  for  a  number  of 
years  been  well  shepherded,  the  wprk  is  sure  to  suffer.  If  a 
rural  pastor  achieves  brilliant  success  he  is  entitled  to  the 
best  churches  the  country  contains.  Let  able  pastors  with 
strong  rural  inclinations  oncie  reahze  that  they  will  be  given 
work  commensurate  with  their  abilities  and  there  will  be  no 
dearth  of  good  rural  leaders.  The  same  may  be  said  of  all 
other  rural  workers. 

(4)  Putting  Romance  into  Rural  Life. —  Young  men  and 
women  freely  dedicate  their  lives  to  missionary  activities  in 
spite  of  the  sacrifice  and  privation  to  which  they  will  be 
subjected.  Volunteers  always  seem  to  be  forthcoming.  Every 
great  missionary  convention  results  in  the  enlistment  of 
numerous  workers.  Otie  of  the  reasons  for  this  is  economic. 
Foreign  missionaries  supported  by  the  great  church  missionary 
boards  are  never  paid  less  than  $900  per  annum  and  from 
that  up  to  $2,500,  and  they  are  not  sent  abroad  unless  the 
money  is  pledged  to  finance  their  work.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  the  home  field,  many  workers  receive  less  than  $400  a  year, 
and  the  average  salary  for  all  work  in  the  country  does  not 
exceed  $600  or  $700.  It  is  readily  seen  that  a  man  cannot 
enjoy  the  comforts  of  life  and  educate  a  family  on  this  amount 
of  money.  Solve  the  economic  problem  and  the  other  prob- 
lems will  yield  more  easily  to  solution.  At  the  National 
Country  Church  Conference,  December,  1915,  one  speaker 
made  the  statement  that  at  a  certain  theological  seminary  a 
number  of  young  women  engaged  to  young  pastors  in  their 
senior  year,  decHned  to  marry  the  young  men  if  they  chose 
rural  fields,  preferring  to  marry  foreign  missionaries.  Depri- 
vation of  those  things  that  contribute  to  soul  culture,  that 

106 


RURAL  AMERICA 

foster  the  higher  ideals,  that  give  one  a  fighting  chance  in  his 
efforts  to  reach  a  worthy  goal,  and  romance  do  not  go  to- 
gether. Remove  the  financial  handicaps  that  today  shackle 
the  spirit  of  rural  leadership  and  let  it  have  a  chance  to  rise 
to  inviting  heights  and  it  will  raise  all  Rural  America  with  it. 
Under  the  stimulus  of  romance  there  will  come  a  marvelous 
transformation  in  the  Rural  Field. 

Rural  America,  owned  by  six  million  home  owners,  its 
manifold  activities  put  on  a  profitable  basis,  its  work  offering 
careers  of  great  attractiveness,  and  crowned  with  a  halo  of 
romance,  will  develop  the  greatest  civilization  the  world  has 
known. 


107 


CHAPTER  III 
RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

SOMEONE  has  said  he  would  rather  meet  a  flock  of  lions 
led  by  a  sheep  than  a  flock  of  sheep  led  by  a  lion.  This 
statement  invites  consideration  of  the  subject  of  leadership. 
The  one  dominant  thought  in  the  preceding  chapter,  unless 
the  writer  has  failed  of  his  purpose,  is  leadership.  It  is 
leadership  that  is  responsible  for  the  progress  Rural  America 
has  made,  and  it  is  leadership  of  a  still  more  exalted  type 
that  will  be  the  means  of  placing  the  crown  of  a  higher 
civilization  on  the  brow  of  the  new  Rural  America.  There 
are  three  classes  of  leaders  in  Rural  America :  those  who 
know  they  are  leaders  and  exercise  their  leadership ;  those 
who  know  they  are  leaders,  but  because  of  modesty  and  diffi- 
dence fail  to  make  use  of  their  God-given  talent;  and  those 
who  are  totally  ignorant  of  their  capacity  for  directing  others. 
So  a  great  responsibility  rests  on  the  leaders  of  the  first  class, 
since  they  must  not  only  exercise  their  leadership,  and  of 
course  exercise  it  rightly,  but  inspire  the  leaders  who  fail  for 
want  of  courage  to  do  their  duty  and  reveal  to  the  leaders 
ignorant  of  their  powers  the  hidden  talents  of  their  natures. 
There  might  be  mentioned  a  fourth  class :  those  who  are  mis- 
taken in  the  belief  that  they  are  leaders  and  therefore  prove 
to  be  a  handicap  to  progressive  work. 

Leaders  are  born,  not  made,  and  fortunately  an  intensive 
study  of  rural  sections  warrants  the  generahzation  that  there 
is  an  abundance  of  leadership  in  the  country.  Rural  America 
is  like  a  sleeping  giant  that  is  just  beginning  to  rouse  himself. 
What  a  change  there  will  be  when  the  sleeping  giant,  having 
become  fully  awake,  begins  to"  utilize  to  the  utmost  all  the 
powers  of  his  nature !  Among  the  inspiring  sights  of  the 
Great  West  are  the  wonderful  reservoirs  where  bilhons  of 
K  io8 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

gallons  of  water  are  stored.  Before  the  construction  of  these 
reservoirs  there  were  millions  of  acres  of  land  beyond  the 
Mississippi  which,  though  producing  more  bountifully  today 
than  any  section  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  were  practically 
worthless.  The  water  existed  in  as  large  quantities  and  the 
soil  contained  as  much  fertility  then  as  now,  but  the  water 
had  not  been  mobilized,  to  use  a  war  term,  and  could  not  be 
used  when,  where  and  as  needed,  as  it  can  at  present.  Today 
there  is  an  abundance  of  leadership  in  the  country,  but  this 
leadership,  like  the  water  of  the  Great  West,  must  be  mobilized 
so  that  it  can  be  used  when,  where  and  as  needed. 

The  greatest  need,  then,  of  Rural  America  is  to  utilize  her 
leadership.  But  before  country  leadership  can  be  utiHzed  it 
must  be  trained  somewhat.  Untrained  leadership  is  a  good 
deal  like  an  unpruned,  unsprayed  fruit  tree.  In  the  Great 
Northwest,  orcharding  has  been  reduced  to  a  science,  and  one 
sees  in  that  country  thousands  of  acres  of  fruit  trees  that  are 
beautiful  in  their  symmetry  and  bear  almost  perfect  fruit 
because  they  have  been  properly  pruned  and  sprayed.  How 
different  many  of  the  neglected  orchards  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  in  which  one  finds  ill-shapen  trees  and  much  gnarly 
and  worm-eaten  fruit!  Only  a  small  percentage  of  the  fruit 
from  the  average  Mississippi  Valley  orchard  is  perfect  and 
fit  to  use,  because  the  orchards  have  not  receiyed  proper 
attention. 

Now  the  question  is,  who  will  train  the  country  leadership 
so  that  there  may  be  a  symmetrical  development,  with  a  fruit- 
age large  in  yield  and  perfect  in  character?  Unfortunately, 
in  the  past,  facilities  for  training  leadership  for  Rural  America 
have  been  very  meager.  The  educational  system  of  the  nation 
has  been  ill  adapted  to  the  great  task  of  preparing  the  youth 
of  the  nation  for  all  the  nation's  work.  As  a  rule,  boys  and 
girls  have  been  educated  away  from  rather  than  for  the  coun- 
try, and  the  educational  life  of  the  nation  has  had  a  distinct- 
ively urban  flavor.  But  a  change  is  taking  place.  The  courses 
of  study  of  all  the  schools,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest, 
are  being  gradually  modified,   that  they  may  become  more 

109 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

responsive  to  the  needs  of  the  great  body  of  American  pupils 
and  students,  half  rural  and  half  urban.  So  it  is  possible  now 
for  a  country  lad  to  go  to  urban  institutions  of  learning  and 
receive  a  training  that  will  fit  him  to  become  a  leader  of 
leaders  and  a  trainer  of  leaders  in  Rural  America.  Notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  half  the  ministers  of  this  country  are 
rural  ministers,  there  was,  until  recent  years,  not  a  single 
theological  school  that  devoted  any  special  attention  to  the 
training  of  young  men  for  rural  pastoral  work.  But  the 
start  has  been  made  in  training  young  ministers  for  the  rural 
field,  and  the  likelihood  is  that  in  good  time  America  will  have 
a  magnificent  rural  ministry,  dedicated  to  the  interests  of 
Rural  America,  having  its  own  conventions  to  discuss  the 
problems  of  rural  life,  developing  a  rural  esprit  de  corps, 
aspiring  only  to  life  service  in  the  country,  containing  strong, 
virile  men,  many  of  whom  because  of  their  familiarity  with 
the  movements  and  activities  that  are  contributing  to  a 
greater  rural  civilization  are  as  worthy  of  the  degree  Doctor 
of  Country  Life  as  any  urban  minister  is  worthy  of  his 
Doctor  of  Divinity.  What  has  been  said  of  rural  pastors  can 
be  in  a  measure  also  said  of  every  other  class  of  rural 
workers.  The  most  hopeful  sign  in  America  today  is  that 
the  trend  relative  to  Rural  America  is  in  the  right  direction. 
A  study  of  successful  leadership  reveals  its  qualities,  or 
characteristics,  and  to  the  extent  to  which  one  possesses 
these,  to  that  extent  is  one  qualified  for  successful  leader- 
ship.^  A  first  requisite  of  successful  leadership  is  a  sense  of 
humor,  and  it  is  on  this  that  the  crises  of  life  make  the 
heaviest  demands.  Many  and  many  a  time  when  all  appeared 
lost  or  when  it  seemed  useless  to  put  forth  any  more  effort, 
a  word,  a  gesture  or  an  act  has  saved  a  situation  and  turned 
defeat  into  victory.  Numerous  instances  might  be  given  in 
illustration.  Accounts  of  polar  expeditions,  hazardous  ex- 
plorations, military  campaigns  and  the  like,  abound  in  cases 
to  the  point. 


^  The  writer  names  twelve  qualities  or  characteristics  of  successful 
leadership.  The  fundamentals  of  leadership,  according  to  Prof.  G.  Wal- 
ter Fiske,  are:    Knowledge,  Power,  Skill,  Character,  Vision. 

fc^  I  ID 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

Just  as  food,  however  well  cooked,  fails  to  appeal  to  the 
taste  unless  it  has  been  properly  seasoned,  so  life  itself  proves 
to  be  savorless  unless  there  is  injected  into  it  something  of 
the  spice  and  pungency  that  only  a  sense  of  humor  can  give. 
The  part  that  the  sense  of  humor  has  played  in  world  history 
is  no  inconspicuous  part.  Civilization's  debt  to  the  sense  of 
humor  is  far  greater  than  the  world  suspects.  The  following 
little  poem  shows  what  the  sense  of  humor  has  to  encounter 
constantly : 

Nothing  to  do  but  work. 
Nothing  to  eat  but  food, 
Nothing  to  wear  but  clothes, 
To  keep  one  from  going  nude. 
Nothing  to  breathe  but  air, 
Quick  as  a  flash  'tis  gone; 
Nowhere  to  fall  but  off, 
Nowhere  to  stand  but  on. 
Nothing  to  comb  but  hair. 
Nowhere  to  sleep  but  in  bed, 
Nothing  to  weep  but  tears. 
Nothing  to  bury  but  dead. 
Nothing  to  sing  but  songs. 
Ah,  well !  alas !  alack ! 
Nowhere  to  go  but  out. 
Nowhere  to  come  but  back; 
Nothing  to  see  but  sights, 
Nothing  to  quench  but  thirst, 
Nothing  to  have  but  what  we've  got; 
Thus,  through  life  we  are  cursed. 
Nothing  to  strike  but  a  gait, 
Everything  moves  that  goes; 
Nothing  at  all  but  common  sense. 
Can  ever  withstand  these  woes. 

Blessed  is  the  man  or  woman  who  possesses  a  sense  of 
humor,  because  with  it  these  woes  and  others  can  be  with- 
stood; without  it  life  is  a  "vale  of  tears,"  "an  empty  vessel," 
and  all  the  other  sad  things  found  in  some  of  the  old  hymns. 

Ill 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

"  Life  is  a  beautiful  adventure,"  to  quote  Charles  Frohman, 
who  went  down  with  the  Lusitania.  The  Brownings  experi- 
enced the  "wild  joy  of  living,"  the  Goethes,  the  Scotts,  the 
Lincolns  and  hosts  of  others  found  life  packed  full  of  interest. 
All  these  were  possessed  of  a  lively  sense  of  humor. 

A  second  essential  of  leadership  is  imagination.  The 
imagination  is  the  wonderful  faculty  of  the  mind  that  uses 
the  materials  at  the  disposal  of  all,  and,  taking  every  kind  of 
liberty  with  them,  produces  combinations  that  fill  the  world 
with  perennial  newness,  beauty  and  attractiveness.  Some- 
times the  materials  at  hand  are  very  meager,  and  unless  one's 
imagination  is  fully  equal  to  the  situation  stagnation  or.  ennui 
or  pessimism  or  despair  results.  Miss  Jessie  Field,  in  quoting 
from  Eggleston  and  Bruere,  brings  out  this  thought  beauti- 
fully. "  Starting  at  Nowhere  with  Nothing  and  getting 
Somewhere  with  Something,  is  after  all  the  test  of  useful 
leadership."  ^  The  sentence  might  have  closed  with  these 
words,  "  is  evidence  of  the  possession  of  a  rare  faculty  of 
imagination."  The  writer  continues :  "  This  nation  would 
be  transformed  if  every  rural  worker  would  do  his  or  her 
work  in  so  unusual  a  manner  that  the  unusual  would  become 
the  usual."  2.  What  is  it  if  not  imagination  that  takes  the 
usual  and  transforms  it  into  the  unusual?  A  teacher  with 
imagination  in  one  of  the  Southern  States  conceived  the  idea 
of  arousing  among  her  pupils  an  interest  in  good  books.  In 
the  past  little  had  been  done  with  books,  the  little  country 
school  having  no  library  whatever  and  the  homes  from  which 
the  pupils  came  having  only  motley  collections  of  books,  few 
of  which  were  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  growing  child. 
So  this  teacher  secured  one  of  the  most  delightful  children's 
books  and  began  to  read  it  aloud  to  the  school.  In  a  very 
short  time  the  starved  little  minds  were  literally  devouring 
the  wonderful  incidents  of  the  story.  Taking  advantage  of 
this  natural  avidity  of  the  pupils,  the  teacher  told  them  that 
if  they  could  raise  some  money  they  might  have  a  collection 


1  "  College  Women  and  Country  Leadership,"  p.  14. 

2  "  College  Women  and  Country  Leadership,"  p.  14. 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

of  books  like  the  one  from  which  she  was  reading.  The 
children  were  ready  to  do  anything,  and  eagerly  sold  vege- 
tables in  order  to  provide  sufficient  funds  to  purchase  the 
books  desired.^  That  teacher  possessed  imagination.  She 
did  the  usual  in  the  unusual  way  and  got  wonderful  results. 

In  every  avenue  of  life,  in  every  job,  in  every  task, 
in  every  duty,  if  imagination  is  given  free  play,  how  vastly 
different  life  becomes !  Once  two  preachers  preached  upon 
the  subject  of  the  visit  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba  to  the  Court  of 
King  Solomon.  The  one  possessed  imagination  and  the  other 
had  little  imagination.  The  preacher  gifted  with  imagination 
painted  a  picture  of  this  beautiful  incident  that  simply  charmed 
his  hearers.  His  sermon  was  like  a  great  moving  picture 
from  beginning  to  end.  The  unimaginative  preacher  strug- 
gled hard  in  his  effort  to  portray  the  scene  in  an  interesting 
manner,  but  the  beautiful  colors  that  brightened  the  other 
picture  were  absent,  uninteresting  details  protruded  them- 
selves upon  the  audience,  and  the  congregation  dispersed  far 
from  edified.  The  one  picture  was  like  a  beautiful  sunset  on 
a  great  expanse  of  water;  the  other  was  like  a  sunset  blurred 
by  the  murky  atmosphere  of  a  great  industrial  center.  One 
of  the  great  needs  of  the  time,  in  this  materialistic  land,  is 
giving  more  attention  to  the  development  of  the  faculty  that 
can  transform  the  commonplace  into  the  unusual.  A  chief 
reason  why  the  German  nation  has  made  such  wonderful 
strides  in  aesthetics  is  this :  under  the  leadership  of  Schiller, 
over  a  century  ago,  they  began  the  "  assiduous  cultivation  of 
the  things  that  give  joy  to  the  soul."  ^ 

A  third  essential  of  leadership  is  tact.  What  a  vast  amount 
of  trouble  is  caused  in  the  world  by  failure  to  exercise  tact. 
Tact  might  be  called  that  rare  quality  of  mind  that  enables 
one  to  make  his  way  along  the  crowded  avenue  of  life  with 
a  minimum  of  jolts,  jostles  and  elbow  jabs.  The  pupils  in 
the  third  grade  of  a  certain  city  school  one  afternoon  shortly 


1  Prof.  M.    L.    Bonham,   Southern   Conference   for   Education  and   In- 
dustry, 19 1 5. 

2  See  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  October,   1915,  p.  560. 

113 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

before  three-thirty  became  very  restless.  The  nerves  of  the 
teacher,  too,  were  on  edge,  but  she  was  quite  equal  to  the 
situation.  After  a  moment's  thought  she  got  the  children's 
attention  with  these  words :  "  I  want  all  of  you  to  close  your 
eyes  and  put  your  heads  on  your  desks,  and  while  in  that 
position  be  very  quiet  for  several  minutes  and  each  one  make 
a  wish.  It  may  be  the  good  fairy  is  near  at  hand."  This  gave 
the  nerves  of  the  teacher  and  pupils  alike  a  chance  to  relax. 
The  remainder  of  the  closing  hour  was  delightfully  spent  in 
a  recital  of  the  wishes.  How  different  the  closing  hour  would 
have  been  had  not  tact  come  to  the  rescue !  Much  of  the 
trouble  in  churches  is  of  a  mercenary  origin.  If  finances  are 
on  an  unsatisfactory  basis  and  they  receive  emphasis  on  all 
occasions,  in  a  short  time  trouble  arises  and  spirituality  suffers. 
A  preacher  who  can  solve  the  financial  problems  of  a  church 
and  do  so  in  such  a  manner  that  a  good  taste  is  left  in  the 
mouth  even  of  the  penurious,  is  of  course  a  genius  and  richly 
endowed  with  the  coveted  quality  of  tact.  Some  time  ago 
there  was  a  large  city  church  whose  finances  had  fallen  into 
a  disordered  state.  The  pastor  inaugurated  a  financial  cam- 
paign with  the  idea  of  permanently  solving  the  financial  prob- 
lem of  the  church.  His  plan  was  rather  revolutionary  and 
some  of  the  best  informed  laymen  feared  complications.  But 
he  was  persistent.  The  first  Sunday  on  which  the  plan  was 
announced  two  sermons  were  preached  on  the  grace  of  giving, 
and  the  consensus  of  opinion  was  that  all  had  been  won  over 
to  the  new  plan  and  great  enthusiasm  had  been  aroused  for 
its  success.  Of  course  all  depended  on  the  announcement. 
But  the  preacher  had  an  abundance  of  tact,  and  tact  won  the 
victory.  The  plan  was  put  into  operation  with  good  results. 
A  study  of  biography  reveals  the  strikingly  varying  degrees 
of  success  with  which  the  perplexities,  the  difficulties,  and  the 
hazards  of  life  are  encoifntered.  One  person  wends  his  way 
from  childhood  to  old  age,  and  serenity  accompanies  him 
throughout  the  whole  journey.  Another  reaches  the  goal 
only  after  many  periods  of  storm  and  stress.  In  the  case  of 
the  first,  tact  paved  the  way;  in  the  case  of  the  second,  absence 
of  tact  made  the  way  rough  and  rugged. 
'^  114 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

A  fourth  essential  of  leadership  is  quick  wit.  Once  two 
college  students,  one  of  whom  was  named  Wiggin,  and  both 
of  whom  were  full  of  the  spirit  of  fun,  desired  to  catch  a 
train  on  the  point  of  starting,  and  their  path  was  impeded  by 
an  immense  crowd  of  people — men,  women  and  children.  They 
realized  that  only  two  ways  were  open  to  them  if  they  would 
reach  the  train:  one  was  strategy  and  the  other  main  force. 
They  chose  the  former.  One  of  the  boys,  both  of  whom  were 
fine  specimens  of  physical  manhood,  shouted  in  stentorian 
tones :  "  Make  way  for  Wiggin  of  New  York."  The  crowd 
fell  back,  the  boys  reached  their  train  in  good  time,  no  one 
in  the  crowd  was  hurt  and  all  enjoyed  the  joke.  Quick  wit 
saved  the  day.  While  a  certain  bishop  was  stationed  in  the 
great  mission  field  of  Africa,  he  on  one  occasion  came  into 
contact  with  a  tribe  that  threatened  his  life.  It  happened 
that  the  bishop  had  both  false  teeth  and  false  hair.  He  first 
removed  his  teeth  and  then  his  hair,  when  he  realized  that 
something  must  be  done  to  prevent  the  savages  killing  him, 
appeahng  to  their  superstitious  natures  with  all  the  art  at  his 
command.  In  a  very  short  time  he  was  looked  upon  as  a 
superhuman  being.  The  quick  wit  of  the  bishop  not  only 
saved  his  life  but  enabled  him  to  start  the  great  work  of 
bringing  this  savage  tribe  to  Jesus  Christ. 

A  fifth  essential  of  leadership  is  candor.  There  is  a  dis- 
position on  the  part  of  the  average  person  to  indulge  in  a 
good  deal  of  sparring  in  his  dealing  with  others.  However, 
unless  this  is  done  as  sparingly  as  possible,  one  is  pretty  sure 
in  the  course  of  time  to  fall  into  the  habit  of  duplicity. 
Many  a  time  the  results  of  candor  are  feared  when  candor  is 
by  far  the  best  poHcy.  In  recalling  incidents  out  of  one's  life 
one  plainly  sees  how  frequently  a  little  more  candor  would 
have  saved  an  immense  amount  of  trouble.  In  fact,  unless 
there  is  candor  when  candor  is  quite  in  place,  there  must  later 
be  resort  to  bluntness  of  the  most  pronounced  type,  and  this 
often  leads  to  unfortunate  results.  No  sensible  person  ever 
shows  resentment  in  the  face  of  candor.  But  all  persons  are 
justified  in  feeling  aggrieved  when  candor  has  been  wanting 

IIS 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

to  such  an  extent  that  complications  follow.  American  diplo- 
macy has  been  called  "  shirt-sleeve  diplomacy "  because  its 
chief  characteristic  is  candor  instead  of  intrigue. 

Candor  is  especially  essential  in  all  rural  work,  for  the 
reason  that  Rural  America  is  now  thoroughly  awake  and 
ready  for  an  advance  along  the  whole  front.  The  forces  of 
Rural  America  are  full  of  vitality,  energy,  enthusiasm,  opti- 
mism, but  progress  must  be  slow  pending  the  accumulation  of 
sufficient  experience.  So  leadership  has  an  arduous  task  in 
holding  in  line  the  army  of  Rural  America  and  seeing  to  it 
that  no  step  is  taken  and  no  move  made  for  which  there  has 
not  been  proper  preparation.  And  this  v/ill  require  above 
everything  else  candor. 

Dr.  Henry  van  Dyke  has  expressed  himself  very  forcefully 
on  this  point :  "  Are  we  quite  sure  that  the  world  needs  us 
to  do  this  particular  work  which  frets  us  so?  There  is  such 
a  thing  as  taking  ourselves  and  the  world  too  seriously.  Half 
of  the  secular  unrest  and  dismal,  profane  sadness  of  modern 
society  comes  from  the  vain  idea  that  every  man  is  bound  to 
be  a  critic  of  life,  and  to  let  no  day  pass  without  finding  some 
fault  with  the  general  order  of  things,  or  projecting  some 
plan  for  its  improvement."  The  Wall  Street  Journal  also 
makes  some  interesting  observations  on  this  head.  "  One  of 
the  things  ailing  this  country  at  present  is  the  activity  in  it  of 
too  many  people  who  belong  to  the  professional  uplifting 
class.  That  old  disciplinary  order  of  training  which  aimed  at 
mental  fiber,  knowledge  of  fact  and  grasp  of  principles,  has 
given  place  to  the  study  of  'problems,'  and  methods  of  in- 
vestigating '  social  conditions/  and  the  remedies  for  every  sort 
of  ill  man  has  been  heir  to  in  all  the  ages.  The  result  is  a 
mass  of  half-baked  measures  in  municipal,  state  and  federal 
legislatures.  The  sooner  we  get  back  to  the  primal  fact  in 
human  classification  that  the  professional  uplifter,  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten,  is  a  loafer,  the  better  it  will  be  for  the  heart 
and  the  head  as  well  as  the  purse  of  the  country  and  its 
taxpayers." 

A  sixth  essential  of  leadership  is  courage.  One  of  the  few 
ii6 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

things  that  are  universally  hated  in  this  world  is  cowardice. 
Even  a  coward  hates  cowardice  in  another  coward.  Some 
years  ago  a  man  of  considerable  prominence  on  the  Pacific 
coast  was  taking  an  ocean  voyage  with  his  wife  and  children. 
A  storm  arose  and  their  vessel  was  wrecked  with  great  loss 
of  life.  Did  this  man  do  all  in  his  power  to  save  his  wife 
and  family?  No!  he  deserted  them  absolutely  and  saved 
himself.  The  first  instinct  of  the  whole  animal  world  is  self- 
preservation.  However,  this  instinct  and  courage  make  a 
wonderful  combination.  The  courage  that  prompts  one  to 
risk  his  own  life  to  save  another's  is  a  high  type  of  courage, 
but  there  is  another  type  of  courage  that  is  also  deserving  of 
the  highest  consideration,  and  that  is  the  courage  that  seeks 
to  make  life  one  continuous  triumph.  Time  was  when  this 
world  was  looked  upon  simply  as  a  place  of  probation.  Ser- 
mons, songs  and  testimonies  emphasized  continuously  the 
transitoriness  of  this  life  and  the  glories  of  the  life  to  come. 
Today  a  change  is  taking  place.  The  great  emphasis  is  placed 
upon  this  life,  and  the  thought  is  that  if  one  does  his  best  in 
this  life  he  will  have  had  the  best  preparation  for  the  life  to 
come.  The  result  is,  the  churches  today  are  placing  stress  on 
living  instead  of  dying.  The  poet,  Ernest  Crosby,  expresses 
this  thought  admirably  in  these  verses : 

So  "  he  died  for  his  faith."     That  is  fine  — 
More  than  most  of  us  do. 
But  stay !     Can  you  add  to  that  line 
That  he  lived  for  it,  too? 

It  is  easy  to  die.     Men  have  died 
For  a  wish  or  a  whim  — 
From  bravado,  passion,  or  pride; 
Was  it  hard  for  him? 

But  to  live;  every  day  to  live  out 

All  the  truth  that  he  dreamt. 

While  his   friends   met  his   conduct   with   doubt, 

And  the  world  with  contempt! 

117 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

Was  it  thus  that  he  plodded  ahead, 
Never  turning  aside? 
Then  we'll  talk  of  the  life  that  he  led  — 
Never  mind  how  he  died. 

So  the  thought  that  needs  most  emphasis  is  living  a  life 
that  will  count  for  most,  and  the  one  thing  required  almost 
above  everything  else  in  living  such  a  life,  is  courage.  To 
master  the  little  vexations  of  daily  occurrence,  to  banish  dis- 
cord and  promote  harmony,  to  combat  indifference  and  apathy, 
to  arouse  enthusiasm,  and  to  do  the  thousand  and  one  other 
things  that  are  necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  results, 
requires  courage.  Possibly  no  more  eloquent  words  were  ever 
uttered  on  the  subject  of  courage  than  those  spoken  by  the 
great  Frenchman,  Jean  Jaures :  "  Courage  consists  in  meet- 
ing without  flinching  the  tests  of  every  kind,  physical  and 
moral,  which  life  brings.  To  have  courage,  in  the  infinite 
disorder  of  the  life  which  solicits  us  on  all  sides,  is  to  choose 
one  occupation  and  to  do  it  well,  whatever  it  may  be.  Courage 
consists  in  being  both  a  practical  man  and  a  philosopher;  in 
understanding  one's  work,  systematizing  it,  examining  it,  and 
yet  in  coordinating  it  with  life  in  general.  Courage  consists 
in  watching  one's  machine  for  spinning  or  weaving  so  closely 
that  no  thread  may  break,  and  at  the  same  time  in  preparing 
a  more  fraternal  social  order  where  the  machines  will  be  the 
common  servants  of  free  workers.  Courage  consists  in  being 
master  of  one's  faults,  not  servant  to  them.  To  have  courage 
is  to  love  life  and  regard  death  tranquilly,  to  strive  for  the 
ideal  and  to  undertake  the  real;  to  work  and  give  ourselves 
up  to  great  causes  without  knowing  what  recompense,  if  any, 
the  inscrutable  universe  reserves  for  our  efforts;  to  seek 
truth  and  to  proclaim  it." 

The  seventh  essential  of  leadership  is  faith.  It  is  quite  likely 
that  almost  everyone  familiar  with  the  Bible  would,  if  asked 
to  select  the  half  dozen  greatest  chapters  of  Holy  Writ,  make 
the  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews  one  of  the  number.  This  is 
the  great  chapter  on  faith.  Faith  is  one  of  the  big  things  of 
life.     All  the  achievements  of  earth  worth  while  rest  on  a 

ii8 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

foundation  of  faith.  What  a  wonderful  group  of  men  and 
women  are  named  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews !  This 
chapter  has  been  called  the  Bible's  roll  of  honor  and  the 
wonderful  names  represent  the  Hebrew  Hall  of  Fame. 

Osborne,  in  quoting  Walter  Rauschenbusch,  speaks  elo- 
quently of  the  Miracle  of  Spring.^  Today  the  trees  are  leaf- 
less, the  grass  is  dead,  the  woods  are  still.  In  a  short  time, 
however,  what  a  transformation !  New-born  leaves  array  the 
whole  forest  in  a  dress  of  green,  the  lawns  and  meadows  look 
beautiful  covered  with  their  new  carpet  of  spring  and  all  the 
woods  resound  with  the  music  of  the  happy  birds  that  have 
winged  their  way  from  the  Southland.  This  is  the  Miracle 
of  Spring  and  from  the  beginning  it  has  been  an  annual 
occurrence.  Everyone  has  faith  that  God  will  ever  continue 
to  repeat  the  Miracle  of  Spring.  If  God's  children  have  such 
implicit  faith  in  nature's  annual  rebirth,  is  there  any  reason 
why  they  should  fail  to  develop  a  robust  faith  in  the  affairs 
of  life?  Yet  most  people  are  of  little  faith.  If  the  world  is 
to  take  a  forward  step  in  the  New  Era  there  must  be  a  re- 
surgence of  faith.  There  are  great  tasks  confronting  the 
world  today,  and  world  tasks  require  a  great  faith.  Moreover, 
everyone  can  have  a  part  in  performing  these  tasks  if  faith 
is  exercised.  Someone  has  said  most  truly :  *'  We  have  to 
struggle  hard  to  persuade  ourselves  that  in  a  given  city  in  a 
given  building  on  a  given  street,  we  as  plain  people  can  take 
any  steps  or  do  any  bit  of  work  that  will  substantially  affect 
great  world  futures.  And  yet  it  is  true  that  so  closely  inter- 
volved  are  all  men  and  all  things  that  the  humblest  transaction 
instantly  relates  itself  to  the  whole  world  process."  And  this 
is  truer  today  than  it  ever  was  before  because  of  the  con- 
tracting world  of  the  twentieth  century. 

Faith  on  fire  has  vision.  Vision  sees  a  goal.  In  the  lexicon 
of  the  country  leader  the  triumvirate  of  words  that  must 
dominate  are :  faith,  vision,  goal.  St.  Paul  had  a  great  faith, 
he  beheld  a  wonderful  vision,  he  reached  a  world  goal.    The 


^  W.  F.  Osborne,  "  Faith  of  a  Layman,"  p.  2. 
119 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

need  of  the  nation  today  is  men  with  faith  strong  enough  to 
last  a  Hfe-time;  with  a  vision  clear  enough  to  see  ultimate 
victory;  with  strength  great  enough  to  enable  them  to  reach 
the  goal;  with  a  determination,  like  St.  Paul,  to  finish  the 
course.  The  world  is  today  in  great  need  of  Calebs  and 
Joshuas.  It  is  remembered  that  Caleb  and  Joshua  were  the 
only  ones  of  the  twelve  spies  sent  to  investigate  the  Promised 
Land  who  favored  a  "  forward  march."  Ten  spies  showed 
little  faith  and  the  Children  of  Israel  remained  in  the  Wilder- 
ness, and  everyone  familiar  with  the  story  knows  the  infinite 
loss  that  resulted  from  the  lack  of  faith.  A  nation  can  make 
great  progress  only  when  the  aggregate  faith  of  its  people  is 
great.  What  is  the  aggregate  faith  of  Rural  America? 
Under  great  leadership  the  sum  of  this  faith  can  be  increased. 
May  the  present  generation  witness  this  consummation ! 

An  eighth  essential  of  leadership  is  virility.  The  great 
undertaking  in  the  country  is  to  win  the  youth  of  Rural 
America,  and  the  youth  of  Rural  America  are  never  won  by 
the  "  ladylike  and  innocuous  saint."  They  even  prefer  the 
"  courageous  sinner."  "  Youth  can  be  won  by  setting  free 
the  virile  and  chivalrous  spirit  of  youth  "  and  that  can  be  done 
only  by  the  leader  whose  life  is  blessed  with  virility.  Youth 
are  hero  worshipers  and  the  heroes  that  command  their  high- 
est admiration  are  those  that  have  achieved  distinction  in  the 
physical  realm.  And  this  is  natural,  since  during  the  first 
third  of  man's  three  score  and  ten  years  the  activities  of  the 
body  dominate  the  life.  The  animal  is  much  in  evidence,  and 
the  great  aim  of  leadership  is  that  the  animal  may  develop 
into  a  highly  civilized  animal.  The  one  incident  that  made 
"  Quo  Vadis  "  one  of  the  most  popular  books  of  its  generation 
was  the  wonderful  scene  in  the  arena,  representing  the  Lygian 
giant  catching  by  the  horns  the  hugh  German  aurochs  on 
whose  back  is  bound  his  queen,  and  calling  into  service  the 
almost  superhuman  strength  of  his  wonderful  body,  breaking 
the  neck  of  the  animal.  The  experts  of  the  baseball  diamond 
and  the  stars  of  the  gridiron  have  the  youth  of  America  at 
their  feet.    A  study  of  leaders  from  Moses  down  to  the  present 

120 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

time  reveals  the  fact  that  the  great  leaders  have  been  men  of 
virility. 

A  ninth  essential  of  leadership  is  will  power.  No  one  can 
live  either  a  satisfactory  or  a  successful  life  that  does  not 
make  his  will  regnant  in  his  life.  A  will  so  dominant  that  it 
controls  a  life  with  the  ease  with  which  the  steering  wheel 
directs  the  flying  seven-passenger  automobile,  causes  the 
possessor  to  take  pride  in  his  enviable  possession.  How 
many,  many  persons  make  shipwreck  of  their  lives  simply 
because  the  passions  or  the  appetites  are  in  control  instead 
of  the  volitional  faculty.  The  reason  why  centuries  elapsed 
after  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  before  some  semblance  of 
order  prevailed  in  the  barbarian  world,  was  because  men  were 
constantly  giving  vent  to  their  passions  and  destroying  all 
beginnings  of  orderly  government  as  soon  as  evidences  of 
stability  began  to  appear.  The  result  was,  settled  conditions 
were  long  delayed  in  central  Europe.  Some  people  go  through 
life  like  the  barbarians  of  the  Dark  Ages.  Passions  and 
appetites  rule  them,  and  their  wills  are  ever  subservient  to 
the  dictates  of  their  lower  natures.  The  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion means  first  and  foremost  the  increasing  dominancy  of 
the  will. 

The  first  step  for  the  individual  is  getting  complete  control 
of  self,  since  only  self-controlled  persons  have  success  in  the 
direction  of  others.  Many  a  person  has  spoiled  all  his  chances 
for  successful  leadership  because  of  inability  to  master  self. 
He  who  rules  himself  rules  a  multitude.  But  in  ruling  others 
one  must  not  push  his  will  into  too  great  prominence.  If 
those  who  are  led  see  in  the  leader  a  tendency  to  rule  them 
with  an  iron  hand  or  to  make  his  will  law  among  them  or  to 
show  intolerance  of  the  opinions  of  others  or  even  to  give 
reluctant  consideration  to  others'  views,  his  effectiveness  as 
a  leader  is  much  reduced.  The  ideal  leader  is  the  one  who 
understands  the  art  of  self-abnegation.  He  who  can  bring 
out  the  ideas  and  plans  of  others,  pave  the  way  for  the  adop- 
tion of  those  that  seem  workable,  push  the  co-laborer  that  has 
initiative  and  brains  without  giving  offense  to  the  fellow  whose 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

only  qualification  is  ability  to  follow  someone  else,  assert 
himself  when  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  maintain  a  perfect 
equilibrium  and  retire  to  the  background  and  bring  others 
into  prominence  when  that  can  be  done  for  the  good  of  all, 
.ever  holding  ambition  in  check  and  suppressing  a  desire  for 
recognition  —  such  a  leader  gets  results. 

The  leader  who  has  perfect  control  of  self  can  be  the  power 
behind  the  throne  in  the  control  of  others.  The  boy  or  man 
who  has  no  will  of  his  own  is  not  of  very  much  value.  But 
to  get  together  a  great  many  boys  or  men,  all  of  whom  have 
wills  of  their  own,  to  be  equal  to  every  situation  of  will- 
clashing,  to  be  able  to  merge  all  wills  into  a  stream  of  power 
that  moves  steadily  in  one  direction,  is  not  an  easy  task. 
Much  is  heard  nowadays  about  interlocking  directorates. 
These  directorates  work  together  very  well  because  profits 
are  the  prize  of  cooperation,  and  profits  are  the  greatest 
known  stimulus  to  cooperation.  Every  movement  in  Rural 
America  represents  an  interlocking  of  wills.  Here,  too,  the 
prize  is  profits.  But  not  in  every  movement  of  Rural  America 
are  the  profits  of  a  material  character.  In  fact,  the  profits,  as 
a  rule,  have  to  do  with  intangible  values.  And  the  securing 
of  such  profits  involves  sacrifice,  criticism,  scant  praise,  little 
reward.  So  interlocking  wills  in  the  movements  of  Rural 
America  require  leadership  of  a  high  order, 

A  tenth  essential  of  leadership  is  prayer.  Prayer  is  the 
greatest  force  in  the  world  today.  The  two  men  who  are 
considered  the  leading  characters  in  American  history  are 
Washington  and  Lincoln.  These  two  men  were  preeminently 
men  of  prayer,  and  Christian  America  believes  that  this 
nation  passed  safely  through  the  two  great  crises  of  her  his- 
tory chiefly  because  of  the  prayers  of  George  Washington  and 
Abraham.  Lincoln.  John  R.  Mott  tells  the  following  incident 
in  his  address  on  the  '*  Transcendent  Importance  of  Prayer.'' 

"  In  1883  a  wave  of  rationalism  and  skepticism  swept  over 
the  Doshisha,  the  leading  Christian  college  in  Japan,  and  it 
became  very  cold  spiritually.  Dr.  Davis,  one  of  the  mission- 
aries there,  recognized  the  power  of  intercession  and  wrote  to 

122 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

over  twenty  colleges  and  theological  seminaries  of  America, 
asking  the  students  to  unite  in  prayer  for  the  Doshisha. 
Many  Christian  students  heeded  the  request.  On  the  night 
of  the  Day  of  Prayer  for  Colleges,  when  the  American  stu- 
dents united  in  prayer,  the  Doshisha  students  in  different 
rooms,  without  any  direct  human  influence  being  brought  to 
bear  upon  them,  were  led  to  fall  into  conversation  on  the 
subject  of  personal  religion  and  gave  themselves  to  prayer. 
A  revival  began  that  very  night  and  spread  through  the  col- 
lege. It  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  a  large  number  of  the 
students,"  ^ 

Somebody  once  asked  Spurgeon  the  secret  of  his  great 
success,  and  he  directed  the  inquirer  to  the  basement  of  the 
great  London  church,  where  during  the  services  several  of  the 
members  of  the  congregation  remained  in  constant  prayer, 
asking  God  that  He  might  make  the  church  a  force  for  right- 
eousness in  the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom.  And  God 
answered  these  prayers  and  the  church  of  Spurgeon  did  a 
wonderful  work  during  his  ministry.  But  one  need  not  go 
to  Japan  or  England  to  learn  that  God  answers  prayers.  God 
answers  the  fervent  prayers  of  all  His  people.  Everyone  who 
knows  how  to  pray  has  had  blessed  experiences  that  prove  to 
him  that  God  is  ever  ready  to  answer  prayer.  All  that  is 
necessary  is  that  God's  people  come  to  fully  understand  that 
perfect  cooperation  and  united  effort  in  prayer  will  revolu- 
tionize conditions  everywhere.  The  trouble  is,  the  followers 
of  Jesus  Christ  are  too  individualistic  in  their  prayers.  A 
few  flying  wedges  in  the  prayer  world  will  be  much  more 
effective  than  individual  supplications  in  battering  down  the 
opposition  and  making  goals.  If  every  one  of  the  eleven 
men  on  a  champion  football  team  were  to  change  his  tactics 
and  play  independently  little  could  be  accomplished  against 
a  well-organized  team  even  of  pygmies. 

Many  years  ago  one  of  the  capable  men  of  the  Methodist 
Church  made  himself  a  bishop  through  prayer.  Before  the 
Conference  there  was  little  thought  among  the  delegates  of 


1  "  The  Challenge  of  Today,"  edited  by  Bishop  W.  F.  Anderson,  p.  80. 
123 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

electing  him  a  bishop.  But  a  prayer  he  uttered  during  the 
early  days  of  the  Conference  so  completely  took  hold  of  the 
whole  body  of  delegates,  that  in  almost  every  heart  came  the 
conviction  that  a  man  of  such  power  in  prayer  ought  to  be  a 
bishop  of  the  church,  and  he  was  elected. 

An  eleventh  essential  of  leadership  is  sympathy.  Of  course 
the  literal  meaning  of  sympathy  is,  fellow-feeling.  This 
presupposes  a  big  heart,  a  heart  like  the  heart  of  Christ  Him- 
self, in  whose  life  one  sees  sympathy  in  all  its  perfection.  The 
ideal  leader  must  be  able  so  to  adjust  his  life  that  it  enjoys 
a  beautiful  harmony  with  the  lives  of  those  whom  he  would 
mold  into  symmetry.  A  hfe  so  attuned  is  keenly  sensitive 
to  the  heart  lives  of  those  with  which  it  is  brought  into  inti- 
mate relations  and  shows  such  wonderful  responsiveness  that 
there  is  perfect  rhythm  in  their  fellowship.  A  sympathetic 
leader  is  a  social  stabilizer.  The  most  recent  invention  to 
contribute  to  the  safety  of  aerial  navigation  is  the  stabilizer, 
which  enables  the  aviator  to  keep  in  balance  in  spite  of 
vacuums,  currents,  counter  currents,  cross  currents  and  any 
other  uncertain  factors  with  which  the  air  machine  has  to 
contend  in  its  flight.  It  is  the  sympathy  of  the  leader  that 
enables  him  to  move  happily  and  successfully  among  those 
whom  he  leads  with  little  fear  of  the  many  uncertain  factors 
of  human  nature. 

.  There  is  another  meaning  of  sympathy  that  possibly  has 
equal  significance  in  all  successful  leadership,  and  that  is 
ability  to  enter  into  the  lives  of  others  so  under  standingly 
that  each  life  may  be  started  and  kept  going  in  the  direction 
in  which  it  is  best  fitted  to  move.  No  two  persons  are  alike. 
Hence  every  person  must  be  made  the  object  of  separate  study. 
But  the  leader  feels  great  pleasure  in  the  intensive  investiga- 
tions that  precede  his  work  of  classifying  those  with  whom 
he  is  afiiliated.  He  finds  some  who  in  the  beginning  give 
promise  of  development  into  strong  characters  under  the 
stimulus  of  the  right  sort  of  life  purpose,  but  in  the  end 
reveal  weaknesses  that  doom  them  to  almost  hopeless  medi- 
ocrity in  life's  activities.    He  finds  others  who  in  the  beginning 

124 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

exhibit  few  if  any  evidences  of  strength  of  character,  but 
in  the  end  grow  strong  and  finally  mature,  under  wise  super- 
vision, into  men  of  sturdiness  and  power.  There  are  infinite 
gradations  between  these  two  classes.  The  pleasure  that 
comes  from  arriving  at  an  exact  understanding  of  each  case, 
and  from  opening  the  way  to  the  highest  achievement  possible 
in  each  case,  is  a  pleasure  that  gives  infinite  zest  in  spite  of 
the  many  disappointments  inevitable  in  dealing  with  youth. 
Many  years  ago  a  class  of  young  people  chose  as  their  presi- 
dent one  of  their  number  who  was  sociable,  agreeable,  regular 
in  attendance,  faithful  in  the  performance  of  stereotyped 
duties,  but  who  possessed  no  initiative,  had  a  pliant  nature, 
and  could  not  command  the  respect  of  a  young  man  or 
woman  with  a  strong  character.  The  result  was,  he  was  a 
failure  as  a  class  president,  which  office  his  smile,  handclasp 
and  equable  disposition  had  won  him. 

A  final  essential  of  leadership  is  fairness.  Anyone  who 
has  had  much  experience  with  children  or  young  people 
realizes  that  they  are  gifted  with  intuitive  keenness  in  passing 
judgment  on  the  treatment  they  receive  at  the  hands  of  elders. 
A  teacher,  for  example,  who  shows  partiality  quickly  impairs 
his  usefulness  and  practically  destroys  his  influence  over  his 
pupils.  A  little  group  of  children  or  young  people  is  filled 
with  the  same  democratic  spirit  that  pervades  the  whole 
national  life,  and  their  slogan  is  the  square  deal.  So  anyone 
who  aspires  to  be  a  leader  of  youth  must  make  up  his  mind 
that  he  will  always  be  just;  that,  in  fact,  he  will  be  so  just 
as  to  treat  with  equal  consideration  the  boy  or  girl  for  whom 
he  cannot  but  have  an  antipathy  and  the  boy  or  girl  to  whom 
he  is  naturally  drawn. 

In  listening  to  a  group  of  young  people  discussing  their 
teachers  one  often  hears  remarks  such  as  these :  "  Mr.  So 
and  So  certainly  does  give  a  fellow  a  square  deal ;  "  "  What 
makes  me  Hke  Miss  So  and  So  is,  she  plays  no  favorites ;  " 
and  the  like.  As  a  grown-up  person  goes  back  in  memory  to 
the  teachers  of  his  tender  years,  he  loves  most  to  dwell  on 
the  experiences  under  teachers  that  showed  absolute  fairness 

125 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

in  their  treatment  of  all  pupils.  He  does  not  cherish  any 
unkindness  for  a  teacher  who  punished  him  when  he  deserved 
punishment,  and  after  the  first  resentment  his  anger  soon 
disappeared  because  he  knew  that  his  punishment  was  de- 
served. But  the  little  acts  of  injustice  that  some  teachers 
perpetrated  linger  in  one's  memory  all  through  the  years  and 
awaken  a  feeling  of  bitterness  whenever  memory  pushes  them 
across  the  threshold  of  consciousness. 

Especially  is  fairness  a  requisite  on  the  athletic  field. 
Here,  when  passion  runs  high  and  there  is  eagerness  to  win, 
the  slightest  wavering  on  the  part  of  the  judge  or  the  umpire 
or  the  coach  quickly  has  its  effect.  In  a  certain  town,  there 
was  an  umpire  who  in  the  course  of  years  acquired  a  reputa- 
tion for  being  absolutely  on  the  square.  The  result  was,  his 
decisions  were  never  questioned.  Once  in  a  while,  as  any 
observing  bystander  could  note,  he  made  mistakes,  but  there 
was  no  objection,  for  the  reason  that  all  had  such  implicit 
confidence  in  him  that  they  knew  any  error  that  he  made  was 
simply  an  error  of  judgment.  Every  leader  is  frequently  put 
to  most  severe  tests,  since  life  is  full  of  decisions,  especially 
if  he  takes  an  active  part  in  community  activities.  His  feel- 
ings or  prejudices  or  inclinations  or  ambitions,  particularly  if  • 
the  vital  tide  is  running  a  little  low  and  physically  he  is  some-  , 
what  below  par,  often  bring  a  tremendous  pressure  to  bear 
on  the  judgment,  and  perfect  justice  finds  it  a  little  difficult 
to  prevail.  But  it  is  tests  such  as  these  that  fortify  char- 
acter against  any  assaults  that  might  be  made  upon  it  and  that 
fit  one  for  a  successful  work  in  his  chosen  field.  i 

Of  the  many  good  things  that  may  be  laid  at  the  door  of 
inspired  leadership  only  a  few  will  be  mentioned.  Leadership 
appeals  to  that  something  within  most  persons  that  stimulates 
them  to  rise  to  higher  levels.  But  even  though  the  higher 
levels  be  not  attained,  good  is  accomplished,  since,  as  Brown- 
ing says  in  his  poem  "  Saul,"  "  'Tis  not  what  man  does  that 
exalts  him,  but  what  man  would  do."  So  whether,  like  Boye- 
son's  engineer,  who  went  through  life  with  an  epic  clamoring 
for  expression  in  his  soul,  a  man  realizes  or  fails  to  realize 

126 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP 

his  aspirations,  he  has  become  an  infinitely  better  man  and 
has  made  his  contribution,  however  modest  it  may  be,  to  the 
sum  of  human  progress.  Leadership  exerts  its  influence 
sometimes  consciously,  sometimes  unconsciously.  Two  illus- 
trations will  be  given.  In  a  certain  town  there  was  once  a 
talented  girl  who  studied  voice  culture  in  a  great  conserva- 
tory and  later  became  a  very  noted  singer.  This  same  town 
produced,  during  the  next  generation,  one  singer  of  inter- 
national reputation,  two  other  singers  quite  well  known  in 
their  own  country,  and  several  artists  of  lesser  fame.  Some 
years  ago,  in  a  town  of  two  thousand,  there  rose  into  prom- 
inence a  baseball  player  who  became  famous  in  one  of  the 
big  leagues,  both  as  player  and  manager.  During  the  decade 
following  this  celebrity's  triumphs,  one  young  man  developed 
into  possibly  an  equally  skilled  player  and  achieved  the  dis- 
tinction of  piloting  a  big  league  club  to  the  championship  one 
year.  Several  other  players  of  league  calibre  were  pro- 
duced, and  the  town  has  today  the  reputation  of  being  one 
of  the  greatest  baseball  towns  of  its  size  in  the  country. 

Another  good  thing  resulting  from  inspired  leadership  is  the 
influence  it  exerts  on  philanthropy.  If  the  truth  were  known, 
there  are,  for  example,  very  few  uplift  institutions  or  bene- 
factions anywhere  in  the  country  that  cannot  trace  their  origin 
to  a  stimulus  that  emanated  from  inspired  leadership.  Some 
years  ago  there  was  a  town  that  had  for  a  long  time  felt  the 
need  of  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  There  was  much  agitation,  and  on 
several  occasions  abortive  efforts  were  made  to  finance  the 
institution.  Finally,  a  campaign  of  education  was  launched 
with  the  purpose  of  thoroughly  familiarizing  the  people  with 
all  phases  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work,  in  the  hope  that  success  would 
crown  the  next  effort  to  secure  an  institution.  In  the  midst 
of  the  campaign  a  certain  elderly  resident  made  his  will  and 
arranged  for  the  disposal  of  a  larger  fortune  than  anyone 
thought  he  possessed.  Not  very  long  afterward  the  modest 
but  philanthropically  inclined  man  died,  and  it  was  found  that 
he  had  made  provision  for  an  institution  such  as  even  the 
most  optimistic  had  never  dreamed  the  town  would  possess. 

127 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

This,  with  other  cases  that  might  be  given,  warrants  the 
encouraging  generalization  that  money  comes  when  leader- 
ship SHOWS  THE  WAY. 

A  third  good  that  grows  out  of  inspired  leadership  is,  it 
paves  the  way  for  a  crystallization  of  public  opinion.  Crys- 
tallized public  opinion  with  a  fulcrum  sufficiently  large  can 
move  the  world,  and  it  is  beginning  to  move  the  world  in 
many  ways.  Public  opinion  is  fast  crystallizing  in  regard  to 
the  uselessness  and  pernicious  character  of  the  liquor  traffic, 
and  the  time  is  approaching  when  not  only  America  but  all  the 
nations  will  eliminate  the  curse.  Public  opinion  is  fast  crys- 
tallizing in  regard  to  the  evangelizing  of  the  whole  earth,  and 
the  time  will  surely  come  when  all  the  peoples  of  earth  will 
both  have  heard  of  Jesus  Christ  and  accepted  Him  as  their 
Savior.  Many  other  similar  movements  might  be  mentioned 
concerning  which,  in  this  contracting  world,  public  opinion  is 
crystallizing. 

It  is  only  about  fifteen  years  ago  that  a  certain  aggressive 
minister  fired  the  first  shot  at  the  strongly  intrenched  liquor 
forces  of  his  community.  There  followed  a  trench  warfare 
that  lasted  for  years,  but  in  the  end  the  liquor  forces  were 
routed  and  for  nearly  a  decade  now  the  city  has  been  without , 
saloons,  and  the  dry  sentiment  is  so  pronounced  that  even ' 
the  suggestion  that  the  city  would  be  better  off  if  it  were  to 
discard  prohibition  is  treated  with  the  utmost  contempt.  But 
it  was  different  in  the  early  days.  The  good  minister  who 
fired  the  first  shot  was  subjected  to  a  thousand  inconveniences 
and  unpleasantnesses  because  of  his  bold  stand  and  in  the  end 
lost  his  pulpit  in  that  community.  However,  he  started  the 
crystallization  of  public  opinion  that  today  is  fully  crystallized, 
but  he  paid  the  price.  And  this  thought  of  paying  the  price 
will  be  the  concluding  thought  of  this  chapter. 

Christ,  the  greatest  leader  the  world  has  produced,  paid 
the  price,  and  it  was  the  greatest  price  man  could  pay.  But 
He  established  a  religion  that  is  destined  to  bring  under  its 
banner  all  the  peoples  of  earth.  So  all  leadership  must 
pay  the  price.    There  is  no  royal  road  to  victory  in  the  field 

128 


RURAL  LEADERSHIP  \ 

of  leadership.  Recently,  Professor  Charles  R.  Henderson, 
of  Chicago  University,  died  prematurely,  and  the  diagnosis 
was,  too  great  ardor  in  uplift  activities  for  his  strength. 
Browning's  quatrain  will  fittingly  close  this  chapter. 

That  low  man  seeks  a  little  thing  to  do, 

Sees  it  and  does  it; 
This  high  man  with  a  great  thing  to  pursue 

Dies  ere  he  knows  it. 


129 


CHAPTER  IV 

RURAL  COOPERATION 

DR.  EMIL  HAHN,  writing  in  the  Mcdizinische  Blaetter, 
states  that  a  man  weighing  150  pounds  is  worth  $7.87. 
His  fat  has  a  value  of  $2.60,  but  there  is  scarcely  enough  iron 
to  make  a  nail  an  inch  long  or  lime  to  whitewash  a  good 
sized  fowl-house.  The  phosphorus  would  put  heads  on  2,200 
matches  and  the  magnesium  would  provide  a  very  pretty  fire- 
works display.  Of  albumen  there  is  sufficient  for  a  hundred 
eggs,  while  of  sugar  one  could  secure  only  a  teaspoonful  and 
of  salt  a  mere  pinch. 

Yet  in  spite  of  the  low  value  of  the  several  elements  that 
enter  into  man's  body,  the  same  is  a  marvelous  combination, 
the  elements  representing  one  combination  and  myriads  of 
cells  another.  The  cells,  for  example,  are  so  perfectly 
adjusted  to  one  another  that  under  normal  conditions  they 
fulfill  in  a  very  happy  manner  their  functions.  Nor  is  it  an 
easy  task  to  throw  them  out  of  adjustment,  since  if  some  cells 
refuse  for  a  time  to  perform  their  proper  functions  other 
related  cells  come  to  their  rescue,  so  that  one  never  notes 
slight  temporary  discords  in  the  activities  of  his  cell  system. 
How  different  with  man-made  mechanisms !  To  illustrate, 
whenever,  in  an  automobile,  one  spark  plug  fails  to  do  its  duty 
or  some  other  part  is  out  of  commission  the  whole  machine 
is  handicapped  and  its  progress  is  labored.  Now,  not  only  in 
man's  body  is  there  perfect  cooperation,  but  there  is  between 
body  and  mind  a  higher  cooperation,  which  represents  the 
complete  human  life. 

Society  is  man  multiplied.  In  society  there  are  four  dis- 
tinct classes :  the  producer,  the  manufacturer,  the  transporter 

K  130 


I 


RURAL  COOPERATION 

and  the  "  social  server."  ^  But  how  imperfect  the  coopera- 
tion within  each  class  and  among  the  four  classes !  Produc- 
tion is  affected  by  individualism,  the  greatest  enemy  of  co- 
operation. Manufacture  is  just  beginning  to  wrestle  with  the 
problems  that  concern  employer  and  employed.  Transporta- 
tion has  scarcely  cast  aside  its  swaddling  clothes,  and  social 
service,  on  its  practical  side,  has  made  comparatively  little 
progress,  and,  on  its  philanthropic  side,  is  just  getting  a  good 
start.  But  one  sees  perfect  cooperation  in  the  individual. 
Man,  the  producer,  gathers  the  food  with  which  his  body  and 
mind  are  nourished.  His  digestive  tract  takes  the  physical 
food  and  by  a  process  of  manufacture  prepares  it  to  become  a 
part  of  the  body,  and  his  mental  faculties  take  the  spiritual 
food  and  by  a  higher  process  of  manufacture  prepare  it  to 
become  a  part  of  the  mind.  The  physical  food,  after  having 
become  a  finished  product,  is  transported  by  the  blood  to  all 
parts  of  the  body,  and  the  mental  food  after  it  has  become  a 
finished  product  is  borne  by  invisible  means  to  the  great 
storehouse  of  the  mind.  The  social  servers  of  the  body  are 
the  senses  and  of  the  mind  the  higher  faculties,  and  these 
working  together  supervise  and  direct  the  complete  life.  Just 
as  there  is  perfect  cooperation  in  the  individual,  so  there  will 
be  in  God's  good  time  perfect  cooperation  among  individuals, 
in  society. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  the  conclusion  was  drawn  that  fur- 
ther progress  in  Rural  Society  depended  on  leadership.  In  the 
present  chapter  the  thought  will  be  developed  that  the  big  task 
of  leadership  in  Rural  Society  will  be  inaugurating  a  more 
perfect  cooperation. 

The  greatest  obstacle  in  the  path  that  leads  to  a  higher  rural 
civilization  is  individualism.  Life  in  the  country  fosters 
individualism.  No  person  on  earth  is  more  independent 
than  the  farmer.  In  the  village  or  the  city  the  resident  is,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  dependent  upon  the  other  residents, 


^  "  Social  server  "  is  used  in  a  broad  sense  and  by  "  social  service  " 
is  meant  all  service  not  included  in  the  other  three  classes:  industrial, 
commercial,  intellectual,  spiritual,  humanitarian. 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

and  so  he  learns  through  force  of  necessity  to  subordinate 
his  personal  good  to  the  general  good.  Close  contact  and 
interdependence  develop  a  spirit  of  yielding  to  the  aggregate 
will  of  the  community  and  an  inchnation  to  serve  the  wishes 
of  the  great  majority.  The  farmer,  on  the  other  hand,  lives 
the  most  self-sufficient  life  in  the  nation.  During  the  "  Age 
of  Homespun  "  very  little  was  used  on  the  farm  that  was  not 
produced  there.  But  the  age  of  coal  and  steam  has  taken  away 
much  of  the  work  that  formerly  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
farmer  folk,  though  even  yet  the  farmer  is  not  nearly  so 
dependent  on  the  outside  world  as  the  outside  world  is 
dependent  on  him.  So,  finding  it  unnecessary  to  adapt  him- 
self to  the  outside  world  to  any  great  extent,  he  gives  his 
individualistic  tendencies  free  play. 

In  the  second  chapter  many  instances  of  cooperation  were 
given  and  it  was  shown  that  the  benefits  accruing  to  the  farmer 
from  cooperation  were  great.  But  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
only  good  results  flow  from  satisfactory  cooperation,  yet 
attempts  at  cooperation  are  all  too  rare  and  touch  the  lives 
of  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  farm  population.  Of  course 
one  of  the  things  that  deter  farmers  from  entering  more 
freely  into  cooperative  activities  of  a  business  character  is  the 
dismal  record  of  failures  attending  these  in  Rural  America. 
These  failures,  however,  can  be  traced  in  almost  every  case 
to  incompetent  leadership;  hence  the  contention  in  the  last 
chapter  that  the  first  essential  in  the  advancement  of  Rural 
Life  to  higher  levels  is  leadership. 

Now,  how  can  individualism  be  combated?  By  the 
farmer's  getting  a  vision  of  his  true  place  in  the  national  life. 
The  farmer  is  the  chief  producer  of  the  nation.  There  are 
a  few  other  producers,  as  the  miner,  the  forester,  the  fisher 
and  the  hunter;  but  all  these  together  sink  into  insignificance 
compared  with  the  farmer,  who  feeds  all  other  classes  of 
society.  Being  the  chief  producer  of  the  nation,  his  activities 
represent  the  basis  of  the  whole  business  fabric  of  the  nation, 
and  upon  his  prosperity  hinges  the  prosperity  of  all  the 
people.    Occasionally,  Wall  Street  is  shaken  by  a  greater  or 

132 


RURAL  COOPERATION 

less  panic;  at  intervals  the  industrial  world  experiences  de- 
pression; frequently  there  are  storm  and  stress  periods  in 
Urban  America;  but  so  long  as  the  crops  of  the  farmer  are 
bountiful  he  is  little  affected  by  anything  that  may  be  taking 
place  off  the  farm.  But  let  there  be  a  general  crop  failure 
throughout  the  country  or  a  crop  failure  in  one  or  more  large 
sections  of  the  nation,  and  in  a  very  short  time  the  w^hole 
nation  suffers,  and  there  is  retrenchment  all  along  the  line. 
So  if  the  farmer  can  get  a  clear  vision  of  the  important  place 
he  occupies  in  the  nation,  and  can  come  to  realize  how  greatly 
general  progress  is  dependent  on  his  individual  progress,  it 
may  be  that  he  will  develop  more  of  a  cooperative  spirit. 

In  the  progressive  churches  of  Protestant  America  a  new 
financial  plan  is  being  inaugurated.  The  new  plan  emphasizes 
three  cardinal  thoughts:  (i)  getting  into  touch  with  every 
member  of  the  church,  even  down  to  the  smallest  child; 
(2)  welding  the  membership  into  a  dynamic  unity;  (3)  set- 
ting free  the  energies  of  this  great  body  in  cooperative 
activities.  Those  who  have  adopted  this  plan  have  discovered 
that  a  church  in  which  these  three  thoughts  have  been  realized 
quickly  develops  into  a  great  force  for  righteousness  and 
greatly  extends  the  scope  of  its  work.  If  leadership  is  able 
to  put  this  plan  into  operation,  the  farmer  will  get  a  vision  of 
his  true  place  in  the  nation  and,  under  the  stimulus  of  the 
vision,  play  a  greater  part  in  rural  life,  and  thus  give  Rural 
America  the  place  it  ought  to  occupy  in  American  civiliza- 
tion. 

But  the  farmer,  while  representing  the  larger  class  of  the 
rural  population,  is  not  the  sole  resident  of  Rural  America. 
Residents  of  small  villages  and  towns  must  likewise  be  taken 
into  consideration.  Most  of  the  villages  and  towns  of  the 
country  are  collections  of  individuals  for  the  most  part 
dependent  on  the  residents  of  the  contiguous  rural  territory 
for  their  support.  It  is  largely  the  trade  of  the  farming 
population  that  supports  the  villages  and  towns.  Of  course, 
some  villages  and  towns  come  more  or  less  into  touch  with 
the  industrial  side  of  the  nation  through  small  manufacturing 

133 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

plants  or  other  institutions  that  reach  beyond  the  immediate 
territory  surrounding  them.  But  the  rule  is  that  the  activities 
of  the  villages  and  towns  of  the  country  have  to  do  with  their 
own  people  and  the  residents  of  adjacent  territory. 

Now,  while  the  great  obstacle  to  the  development  of  the 
spirit  of  cooperation  on  the  farm  is  individualism,  the  obstacle 
that  prevents  a  higher  cooperation  in  the  village  and  town 
is  absence  of  community  spirit.  If  one  makes  a  study  of 
villages  and  towns  he  finds  in  many  of  them  only  flickering 
sparks  of  the  spirit  essential  to  progress.  The  result  is,  hun- 
dreds of  the  villages  and  towns  of  the  nation  today  are 
decadent.  Of  course,  when  one  takes  into  consideration  the 
several  facts  —  good  roads,  better  facilities  for  getting  from 
place  to  place,  loss  of  many  little  local  industrial  enterprises 
due  to  improved  methods  of  manufacture,  organized  compe- 
tition of  urban  centers  and  growing  cooperative  activities  for 
buying  and  selling  among  the  farmers  themselves  —  he  realizes 
that  the  villages  and  towns  have  had  a  hard  fight. 

Good  roads  stimulate  travel  and  make  possible  trips  of  greater 
length.  When  mud  roads  were  the  rule,  most  of  the  year  the 
farmer  was  obliged  to  trade  at  the  nearest  village.  Travel  is 
further  stimulated  by  traction  lines  and  automobiles.  These 
place  even  the  remote  farmer  and  his  family  in  close  touch  with 
the  county-seat  or  the  larger  city.  Centralized  manufactur- 
ing plants  have  robbed  villages  and  towns  of  their  little 
industries,  and,  in  the  city,  business  combinations  have  been 
the  rule,  with  the  result  that  there  are  today  many  depart- 
ment stores  and  other  commercial  establishments  whose 
customers  instead  of  being  limited  to  local  residents  are  not 
even  limited  by  state  boundaries.  And,  because  of  the  large 
patronage  enjoyed,  goods  can  be  sold  cheaply,  and  thus 
village  and  town  competition  is  next  to  impossible.  This  sort 
of  development  is  greatly  aided  by  the  parcel  post,  which 
makes  possible  the  sending  of  almost  all  kinds  of  parcels  and 
packages  considerable  distances  at  small  expense.  Finally, 
the  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  farming  population  to  organize 
for  the  purpose  not  only  of  buying  cheaply  but  of  selling  to 

134 


RURAL  COOPERATION 

better  advantage  also  affects  the  village  and  town.  These  five 
facts  are  serious  when  considered  with  reference  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  villages  and  towns  of  the  nation  that  are  depend- 
ent largely  on  the  residents  of  contiguous  territory  for  their 
support. 

There  is  one  redeeming  circumstance,  however :  changes 
have  not  come  about  all  at  once,  and  villages  and  towns  have 
been  able  gradually  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  trend  of 
things.  In  the  olden  days,  life  in  the  village  and  town  was  a 
comparatively  sleepy  life.  Little  effort  had  to  be  put  forth  by 
the  business  interests  because  they  were  sure  of  the  trade  of 
the  contiguous  territory.  But  in  the  course  of  the  industrial 
awakening,  villages  and  towns  began  to  see  the  handwriting  on 
the  wall  and  adopted  more  progressive  methods,  with  the 
result  that  in  many  parts  of  the  country  today  there  are  vil- 
lages and  towns  that  have  magnificently  risen  to  the  demands 
of  the  new  times  and  grown  in  spite  of  the  five  major  handi- 
caps mentioned.  The  changed  times  have  been  the  means  of 
rousing  them  from  their  lethargy  and  of  causing  them  to 
summon  all  their  energies  to  the  solution  of  the  new  prob- 
lems that  confront  them.  Hence,  many  villages  and  towns 
have  found  the  changed  order  of  things  a  blessing  in  disguise. 
They  are  today  active,  alive  to  all  their  interests,  hopeful,  opti- 
mistic and  keenly  sensitive  to  the  stimuli  that  contribute  to 
community  development.  The  Saturday  Evening  Post  told, 
some  months  ago,  of  a  store  in  a  country  town  of  i,ooo  inhab- 
itants, that  built  up,  as  a  result  of  advertising  and  progressive 
methods,  an  annual  business  of  almost  $400,000.  Moreover, 
the  town  as  a  town  showed  enterprise  in  all  directions.  On 
the  other  hand,  hundreds  of  villages  and  towns  not  possessed 
of  sufficient  tenacity,  resourcefulness  and  unity  have  suc- 
cumbed to  the  handicaps  imposed  by  the  changed  order  of 
things  and  are  today  leading  decadent  lives. 

Two  villages  come  to  the  writer's  mind.  Both  are  favorably 
located  in  good  agricultural  sections  and  are  almost  the  same 
distance  from  larger  towns  and  cities.  Yet  one  is  progressive 
and  prosperous,  and  the  other  is  conservative  and  backward. 

13s 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

It  is  doubtful  if  the  citizenship,  individually  speaking,  of  the 
former  is  better  than  that  of  the  latter,  and  yet  what  a  differ- 
ence in  their  village  life!  In  the  former  the  business  and 
professional  men  are  a  unit  in  village  activities.  There  is 
constantly  something  doing  looking  to  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity. There  are  several  churches  all  of  which  are  fine  new 
structures.  The  school  is  an  excellent  building  and  under  the 
direction  of  a  good  corps  of  teachers.  The  business  district 
has  an  up-to-date  appearance  and  the  homes  of  the  people 
indicate  contentment  and  happiness.  One  can  not  remain  in 
the  village  an  hour  without  realizing  that  village  life  is  on  a 
high  plane  in  nearly  all  respects.  The  other  village  is  not 
decadent;  but  one  who  studies  it  sees  that  it  has  not  risen  to 
its  possibiHties.  There  are  not  so  many  evidences  of  tidiness 
and  neatness  in  either  the  business  or  the  residence  district. 
The  streets  are  not  so  well  kept  and  the  residents  do  not  seem 
to  possess  that  wide-awake  spirit  that  characterizes  the  resi- 
dents of  the  other  village.  In  village  activities  that  should 
interest  all  the  people  there  is  not  that  unanimity  of  effort  or 
enthusiasm  that  one  finds  in  the  other  village.  In  grading  the 
two  villages  from  the  standpoint  of  all  the  activities  of  village 
life,  village  number  one  would  receive  a  far  higher  grade 
than  village  number  two,  not  because  the  inhabitants  of  the 
former  are  in  their  individual  capacity  better,  but  because  in 
cooperative  activities  they  greatly  excel  the  inhabitants  of 
the  latter.  Villages  are  seldom  compared  in  this  way  because 
of  the  great  number  of  individuals  included,  but  how 
frequently  baseball  nines  and  football  elevens  are  thus  com- 
pared !  And  the  thought  that  is  emphasized  is  that  of  team- 
work. In  1914  the  Boston  National  League  team,  after  having 
for  a  number  of  seasons  played  a  very  minor  role  in  its  league 
of  eight  clubs,  won  not  only  the  championship  of  its  league  but 
the  world  championship  as  well,  defeating  in  the  world  series 
in  four  successive  victories  the  team,  the  Athletics  of  Phil- 
adelphia, that  during  the  three  or  four  years  preceding  this 
series  had  been  considered  the  greatest  baseball  aggregation 
that  the  country  in  all  its  history  had  produced.    Individually 

136 


RURAL  COOPERATION 

the  Philadelphia  team  was  in  a  class  by  itself,  and  yet  the 
Boston  club  won  four  successive  victories  because  of  the  most 
superb  exhibition  of  team-work  the  game  has  known.  So  it  is 
team-work,  perfect  cooperation,  in  the  one  village  that  has 
put  it  on  the  map.  It  is  the  lack  of  team-work,  of  cooperation, 
in  the  other  village  that  has  kept  it  farther  down  the  scale 
and  on  a  lower  plane. 

One  of  the  bugbears  of  the  hundreds  of  villages  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley  is  the  Mail  Order  House.  A  recent  report 
of  a  large  Mail  Order  House  showed  sales  for  the  year  in 
excess  oi  one  hundred  million  dollars.  The  following  is  a 
condensed  statement  of  an  article  that  appeared  in  The 
Banker-Farmer  for  September,  1914. 

Twenty-nine  years  ago,  Hans  Garbus  of  Iowa  rented  an 
8o-acre  farm.  His  possessions  consisted  of  an  old  team,  $50 
in  cash  and  a  young  wife.  Being  a  man  of  integrity,  he  was 
able  to  furnish  his  home  and  equip  his  farm  on  credit.  The 
first  year  was  wet,  resulting  in  a  shortage  of  crops;  so  the 
merchants  of  the  near-by  village,  where  he  made  his  purchases, 
were  obliged  to  extend  the  time  of  his  obligations.  This  they 
gladly  did,  and,  moreover,  they  continued  to  accommodate 
him  in  his  rise  to  affluence.  In  the  course  of  time  he  had 
acquired  title  to  200  acres  of  the  best  land  in  the  state.  Nine 
years  ago  he  concluded  it  would  be  good  business  to  patronize 
city  mail  order  houses,  and  this  he  and  many  of  his  neighbors 
began  to  do  largely  due  to  his  influence,  since  he  had  become 
a  very  influential  man  in  his  neighborhood.  Then  the  near- 
by village  was  quite  progressive,  having  excellent  schools, 
wide-awake  churches,  active  merchants  and  a  most  praise- 
worthy community  spirit.  Then,  too,  Hans'  farm  would 
readily  command  $195  per  acre.  Nine  years  pass.  The 
near-by  village  is  a  mere  shadow  of  its  former  self.  The 
change  was  largely  caused  by  organized  buying  from  mail 
order  houses.  The  worst  of  it  is,  the  present  market  value  of 
Hans'  farm  is  $167  per  acre  (a  depreciation  of  $5,600)  and 
all  other  farms  near  the  little  village  have  suffered  a  like 
depreciation.     This  is   due  to  the  decadence  of  the  village, 

137 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

since  there  is  little  demand  for  farms  at  high  prices  far 
removed  from  the  advantages  of  flourishing  villages.  Today 
Hans  sees  a  light.  He  realizes  that  the  town  and  the  con- 
tiguous country  rise  and  fall  together.  He  realizes  that  the 
greatest  prosperity,  as  well  as  the  greatest  benefits  socially, 
intellectually  and  spiritually,  results  from  town  and  country 
cooperating. 

Another  big  problem  that  concerns  Rural  America  has  to 
do  with  the  unit  of  cooperation.  The  school  district  is  the 
smallest  unit;  but  the  most  important  units,  especially  in  the 
2,500  rural  counties  of  the  nation,  are  the  village  or  town, 
the  township  and  the  county.  Each  is  an  ideal  cooperative  unit 
for  certain  purposes.  For  some  purposes  the  boundaries  of 
these  units  must  be  disregarded  and  rather  arbitrary  lines 
must  be  drawn.  One  can  lay  down  few  hard  and  fast  rules 
regarding  cooperative  units,  since  different  sections  of  the 
country  differ  so  greatly.  But  one  can  say  this:  in  all  cases 
where  the  larger  unit  can  accomplish  the  greater  results,  the 
larger  unit  should  prevail.  However,  the  point  to  be  espe- 
cially emphasized  is,  large  units  should  cooperate  with  smaller 
units  in  every  possible  way.  To  illustrate,  an  institution  or 
organization  representing  county  cooperation  should  adapt 
itself  to  all  smaller  cooperative  units,  such  as  school  districts, 
townships,  villages,  etc.  Each  should  fulfill  its  particular  mis- 
sion and  none  should  trespass  on  the  others. 

In  the  average  agricultural  county  it  is  better  to  have  one 
'  well-organized  and  properly  conducted  library  with  numerous 
branches  than  a  number  of  small  ill-organized  and  poorly  man- 
aged libraries  scattered  through  the  country,  since,  with  one 
library,  funds  are  ample  to  employ  competent  librarians,  to 
purchase  sufficient  and  suitable  books  and  to  supply  all  parts  of 
the  county  with  library  privileges.  Thus,  all  the  people  coming 
in  touch  with  skilled  librarians  and  having  access  to  sufficient 
well  selected  books,  enjoy  advantages  that  are  not  possible 
where  small  library  units  prevail.  Of  course  the  people  must 
not  be  forced  to  come  to  the  central  library  except  when  spe- 
cial help  is  wanted  or  special  volumes  or  records  are  to  be 

'^  138 


RURAL  COOPERATION 

consulted.  The  library  must  be  carried  to  the  people,  that  the 
advantages  accruing  from  its  use  may  be  enjoyed  in  the 
several  communities  of  the  county.  This  may  also  be  said  of 
a  number  of  institutions  such  as  the  county  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  county 
Y.  W.  C.  A.,  county  hospital  and  some  others.  The  head- 
quarters of  each  must  be  centrally  located,  but  the  aim  of 
each  should  not  be  so  much  to  draw  persons,  distantly  located, 
to  them,  as  to  carry  the  advantages  they  have  to  persons  dis- 
tantly located,  with  the  idea  all  the  time  in  mind  of  developing 
every  community  in  the  county. 

An  interesting  example  of  county-wide  cooperation  in  the 
establishing  of  institutions  and  organizations  for  county 
work  is  to  be  found  in  Van  Wert  County,  Ohio.  Van  Wert 
County  many  years  ago  led  the  way  in  the  county-library 
field,  and  the  great  success  the  Brumback  Library  has 
achieved  in  giving  to  its  29,000  rural  population  access  to  the 
world's  literature  has  made  the  library  well  known  all  over  the 
country.  At  present  in  this  county  there  are  in  course  of 
construction  an  endowed  county  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  an  endowed 
county  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  and  an  endowed  county  hospital.  It  is 
believed  that  these  four  institutions  through  perfect  coopera- 
tion will  be  able  to  accomplish  a  work  that  will  prove  to  be  a 
stimulus  to  scores  of  other  rural  centers.  At  any  rate,  the 
cooperative  work  of  the  four  institutions  during  the  next  few 
years  will  be  an  interesting  study. 

A  striking  case  of  township  cooperation  comes  from  the 
celebrated  Illinois  township  which  contains  the  three  towns, 
La  Salle,  Peru  and  Oglesby.  Five  institutions  have  been 
welded  into  a  unit  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people  of  the 
township :  a  Tri-City  High  School ;  a  Manual  Training  and 
Domestic  Science  Institution,  with  complete  equipment  in- 
cluding a  large  assembly  hall;  a  Social  Center  Building,  con- 
taining gymnasium,  swimming  pool  and  shower  baths,  game, 
class,  club,  music  and  art  rooms,  and  a  library;  a  Hygienic 
Institute,  provided  with  a  bacteriological  laboratory,  a  special- 
ized library  and  a  small  staff  of  experts  whose  duty  it  is  to 
keep  the  whole  township  on  the  highest  plane  of  efficiency 

139 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

from  the  standpoint  of  health  and  sanitation;  and  an  Infant 
Welfare  Station. 

Attention  has  just  been  called  to  the  several  units  that  are 
to  be  found  in  Rural  America,  and  emphasis  has  been  placed 
on  the  fact  that  great  results  may  be  attained  through  their 
cooperation.  Now  a  word  might  be  said  about  the  best 
method  of  cooperation.  Here,  again,  no  hard  and  fast  rules 
can  be  given  because  conditions  are  so  different  in  different 
sections  of  the  country.  But  this  rule  might  be  said  to  have 
general  application.  Within  each  separate  and  distinct  com- 
munity center  there  might  be  a  clearing-house  managed  by 
the  leaders  representing  all  the  activities  and  movements  of 
a  community  character  in  the  community.  If,  for  example, 
a  village  were  to  establish  a  clearing-house,  there  would  be 
every  likelihood  that  the  village  would  enjoy  a  symmetrical 
development,  since  all  movements  and  activities  would  be 
given  their  true  place  in  the  life  of  the  village  and  a  vast 
amount  of  waste  resulting  through  duplication  of  effort 
would  be  eliminated.  Take  the  work  of  charity  alone.  There 
are,  in  every  community,  many  organizations  of  a  different 
character  that  engage  in  charitable  work,  with  the  result  that 
some  families  receive  too  much,  some  receive  too  little,  and  a 
great  deal  of  harm  is  done  through  indiscriminate  giving.  A 
clearing-house  could  take  care  of  this  work  in  a  scientific 
manner  and  accomplish,  at  the  same  time,  a  great  constructive 
work,  which  would  in  the  end  be  the  means  of  raising  above 
the  poverty  level  many  who  either  temporarily  or  permanently 
have  sunk  below  it,  purely  because  of  social  conditions  that 
might  be  eliminated.  Then  a  clearing-house  of  clearing- 
houses would  permit  of  much  better  work  in  the  larger  units. 
A  clearing-house  system  worked  out  in  a  county  would  not 
only  be  the  means  of  producing  higher  economic  standards, 
but  would  result  in  the  placing  of  the  collective  citizenship 
on  higher  levels  intellectually  and  spiritually.  Furthermore, 
a  system  of  clearing-houses  would  be  the  best  means  in  the 
world  of  taking  advantage  of  the  aid  that  from  many  sources 
is  coming  from  the  outside :  the  Federal  Government,  the 
'  |.   state,  great  foundations  and  other  organizations. 


RURAL  COOPERATION 

The  chief  problem  of  the  country  is  economic,  and  all  other 
problems  will  yield  to  solution  in  proportion  as  this  receives 
attention.  "  Prof.  F.  H.  Giddings  has  said  that  if  all  the 
universities  and  all  the  pulpits  and  all  the  schools  of  this 
country  should  unite  in  one  idea  they  wish  the  people  to 
accept,  it  would  not  have  the  influence  on  them  that  the 
experience  of  getting  their  living  has :  in  the  last  analysis 
the  way  we  get  our  living  shapes  our  characters  and  forms 
our  beliefs.  For  this  reason  it  is  essential  that,  in  studying 
the  population,  we  should  study  first  and  with  the  greatest 
care  the  economic  conditions  that  prevail."  ^ 

The  tendency  of  the  past  has  been  to  consider  the  problems 
of  the  country  separately,  and  one  of  the  problems  most 
neglected  has  been  the  economic  problem.  Unless  each  one 
is  studied  with  special  reference  to  the  others,  and  particularly 
with  special  reference  to  those  that  are  intimately  related 
to  it,  little  comparative  progress  can  be  made.  Take  the 
problem  of  education :  A  school  district  seldom  advances 
more  rapidly  educationally  than  it  does  economically.  The 
writer  once  made  a  study  of  two  townships,  one  of  which 
had  a  centrahzed  school  and  the  other  of  which  did  not  have 
such  an  institution.  In  the  former  the  standards  of  agri- 
culture were  high,  a  majority  of  the  farms  presented  a  fine 
appearance,  the  roads  were  good,  social  life  was  above  the 
average,  the  churches  and  Sunday-schools  were  well  attended 
and  in  a  flourishing  condition  and  a  get-together  and  work- 
together  spirit  seemed  to  characterize  the  fifteen  hundred 
people  of  the  township.  Before  the  vote  was  taken  to 
build  the  school,  public  sentiment  favored  a  centralized 
school:  the  vote  simply  registered  the  wishes  of  the  people. 

The  same  thing  holds  true  with  reference  to  the  problem 
of  the  country  church.  A  study  of  flourishing  rural  churches 
reveals  the  fact  that  one  never  finds  such  churches  in  back- 
ward districts.  The  best  way  to  build  up  a  flourishing  church 
is  to  build  up  the  country  where  the  church  is  located.     In 


1  Anna  B.  Taft,  "  Community  Study  for  Country  Districts,"  p.  23. 
141 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

some  cases  results  have  been  obtained  in  churches  by  getting 
together  the  people  of  the  community  and  getting  as  much 
out  of  them  as  possible.  But  results  of  this  kind  are  exceed- 
ingly transitory  and  a  church  that  by  this  method  is  built 
up  today  may  be  down  tomorrow.  But  a  church  that  rises 
because  the  whole  community  has  been  placed  on  a  higher 
plane  agriculturally,  socially,  intellectually,  spiritually,  has 
made  fundamental  progress.  So  the  leaders  of  the  future 
in  the  country  must  be  men  broad  enough  to  understand  life 
in  its  entirety  and  to  work  primarily  for  the  development 
of  the  community  along  all  lines  and  secondarily  fqr  progress 
in  the  field  that  engages  their  special  attention.  The  country 
wants  no  leaders  that  do  not  know  something  about  all 
country  work,  and  all  about  some  country  work,  and  are 
unable  to  correlate  the  activities  of  the  ,country,  giving  every 
activity  its  proper  place. 

A  study  of  cooperative  activities  shows  that  much  good 
comes  from  them.  They  tend  to  eliminate  selfishness.  If  a 
man  concerns  himself  solely  with  his  own  individual  affairs, 
unconsciously  selfishness  gets  such  complete  possession  of 
him  that  he  is  almost  incapable  of  unselfish  effort.  In 
mingling  with  men  in  all  kinds  of  undertakings,  some  for 
profit  and  others  for  welfare  purposes,  he  comes  gradually 
to  subordinate  his  own  desires  to  the  dictates  of  the  majority. 
To  the  extent  to  which  men  in  greater  or  lesser  numbers  can 
work  together  and  achieve  success  through  their  united  efforts, 
to  that  extent  is  the  growth  of  selfishness  in  their  natures 
retarded,  since  the  highest  achievements  of  cooperative  effort 
presuppose  the  entire  absence  of  selfishness.  One  of  the 
finest  evidences  of  the  growth  of  civilization  through  the 
centuries  is  the  fact  of  the  gradual  subsidence  of  selfishness 
in  the  individual  and  the  gradual  growth  of  the  philanthropic 
spirit. 

During  the  mobilization  of  her  army,  just  before  her 
entrance  into  the  great  war,  Italy  found  it  necessary  to  ask 
many  railroad  men  to  work  to  the  limit  of  human  endurance, 
for  which  extra  pay  was  promised;  but,  notwithstanding  the 

142 


RURAL  COOPERATION 

fact  that  the  extra  pay  amounted  to  $600,000,  not  a  cent  was 
taken  by  the  men,  and  their  reason  for  not  accepting  the 
extra  pay  was  expressed  in  these  words :  "  We  should  feel 
ourselves  humiliated  if  we  were  not  willing  to  give  our  toil 
while  others  give  their  lives  for  their  country."  What  a 
beautiful  exhibition  of  unselfishness!  And  this  unselfish- 
ness grew  out  of  the  cooperation  of  all  Italians  in  making 
their  nation  ready  for  a  part  in  the  world  war. 

Cooperation  promotes  patriotism.  The  trouble  with  many 
rural  communities  is  that  a  majority  of  their  residents  lack 
rural  loyalty.  That  this  trouble  can  be  corrected  through 
entrance  into  cooperative  activities  for  the  benefit  of  the 
home  community  is  evident  from  many  instances.  A  case 
from  Wright  County,  Iowa,  will  suffice.  Several  years  ago 
the  pupils  of  thirty-four  schools  in  Wright  County  were 
asked  what  they  wanted  to  do.  One  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  boys  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  girls  said  they 
wanted  to  leave  the  farm,  and  seven  boys  and  eleven  girls 
said  they  wanted  to  stay  on  the  farm.  Shortly  afterwards, 
a  number  of  movements  were  inaugurated  with  the  purpose 
of  interesting  the  young  people  in  the  things  of  the  farm, 
and  three  years  later,  when  a  similar  vote  was  taken  in  the 
same  schools,  only  twelve  boys  and  seventeen  girls  wanted 
to  leave  the  farm  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  boys  and 
one  hundred  and  sixty-one  girls  wanted  to  stay  on  the  farm.^ 
Love  for  the  country  can  be  developed  in  the  country  as 
easily  as  love  for  the  city  can  be  developed  in  the  city,  if 
the  same  opportunities  are  provided  in  Rural  America  for  the 
development  of  rural  loyalty  as  are  found  in  Urban  America 
for  the  development  of  urban  loyalty.  In  this  case  the  county 
superintendents  gave  the  opportunities  and  the  cooperative 
activities  developed  the  patriotism.  Whenever  one  finds  a 
country  community  whose  residents  are  filled  with  rural 
patriotism  one  finds  a  community  that  is  on  the  highway 
of  progress. 


1  See  Wallaces*  Farmer. 

143 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

Cooperation  stimulates  fellowship.  As  congestion  is  one 
of  the  drawbacks  of  urban  life,  so  isolation  is  one  of  the 
drawbacks  of  rural  life.  In  one  way  isolation  in  the  country 
has  increased  during  the  past  few  decades,  since  the  older 
districts  of  Rural  America  show  a  gradual  decrease  in 
population  because  farms  are  growing  larger  and  the  improve- 
ments in  farm  machinery  make  it  possible  for  fewer  men  to 
cultivate  the  farms  of  the  nation.  But  coincidentally  with 
the  decrease  in  the  population  of  many  rural  sections,  numer- 
ous movements  have  come  into  existence  that  have  resulted 
in  a  greater  mingling  of  rural  residents  in  all  kinds  of 
activities  —  business,  social,  intellectual,  spiritual  —  than  has 
been  the  case  since  the  Golden  Age  of  Homespun.  This 
mingling  means  cooperation,  and  cooperation  stimulates  fel- 
lowship. How  much  finer  this  fellowship  is,  if  it  has  a 
distinctly  religious  basis !  In  Northern  Michigan  there  is  a 
church  that  is  a  bright  and  shining  light  in  the  rural  field.^ 
The  pastor  of  this  church  worked  for  sixteen  years  without 
realizing  the  wonderful  opportunities  for  service  that  were 
right  within  his  grasp.  Finally,  to  use  his  own  words,  he 
got  a  vision,  and  since  then  he  has  greatly  extended  the 
boundaries  of  his  parish  and  wonderfully  increased  the  work 
of  his  church.  The  people  of  a  large  community  area  have 
been  welded  into  a  religious  unit.  What  has  resulted  from 
the  fact  of  the  church  having  taken  the  initiative  in  the 
development  of  a  more  perfect  cooperation?  All  movements 
of  a  community  character  have  less  of  selfishness  with  which 
to  contend  than  have  similar  movements  in  other  rural  sec- 
tions in  which  the  church  has  either  been  unable  or  failed 
to  assume  the  leadership.  The  most  beautiful  feature  of 
this  growing  rural  fellowship  is  that  it  has  a  place  for  all 
the  people  —  adults,  young  people  and  children  of  both  sexes. 
Thus,  larger  opportunity  is  given  for  the  ripening  of 
acquaintanceships  into  friendships  and  for  the  development 
of  intimacies  into  love  and  marriage. 


1  See  H.  S.  Mills,  "  The  Making  of  a  Country  Parish." 
144 


RURAL  COOPERATION 

Cooperation  discovers  latent  talent.  The  greatest  resources 
of  the  nation  are  of  a  spiritual  character.  Rural  America  is 
rich  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice  in  talents  of  a  high  order, 
and  let  these  talents  be  sought  with  the  eagerness  with  which 
men  seek  gold,  and  let  them  under  the  direction  of  leader- 
ship be  put  through  the  refiner's  fire,  and  they  will  emerge 
from  the  crucible  pure  gold.  It  was  never  meant  that  man 
should  give  the  best  strength  of  his  life  to  the  sordid  activities 
of  acquiring  the  valuable  material  things  of  earth,  and  yet 
all  through  the  ages  man  has  been  sacrificing  health  and 
strength  and  honor  and  friendship  and  love,  yea  life  itself, 
on  the  altar  of  temporal  gain,  while  great  stores  of  un- 
developed human  riches,  riches  that  are  not  temporal  but 
eternal,  are  accessible  to  all.  What  a  wonderful  difference 
between  the  riches  that  have  permanent  significance  and  those 
that  are  temporal  and  perish  with  earth!  The  nugget  of 
gold  that  the  miner  finds  is  almost  as  valuable  as  the  gold 
eagle  of  the  same  weight.  But  the  undeveloped  talent  is 
as  naught  compared  with  the  same  talent  transformed  into 
an  efficient  instrument,  ready  for  service.  Holden,  the  Corn 
King,  loved  everywhere  in  the  Corn  Belt  and  possibly  as 
widely  known  today  as  any  other  living  agriculturist,  achieved 
his  great  reputation  largely  through  his  work  in  Iowa,  where 
the  corn  yield  of  the  state  was  increased  several  bushels  per 
acre  through  his  efforts  in  the  matter  of  seed  selection. 
Holden  was  a  poor  boy  on  a  farm  like  thousands  of  other 
poor  boys  on  farms,  but  his  God-given  talent  was  developed, 
and  today  not  only  Iowa  but  the  whole  nation  is  richer 
because  of  his  developed  talent.  How  tremendously  more 
valuable  is  this  developed  talent  that  lay  dormant  in  the  mind 
of  the  barefoot  boy  on  his  father's  farm  a  generation  ago! 
"  What  the  world  needs  is  men  who  can  do  to  agriculture 
and  horticulture  what  Edison  did  to  electricity,  Carnegie  to 
steel  and  Vanderbilt  to  transportation  —  develop  its  effi- 
ciency." ^    Today  the  talent  to  do  these  wonderful  things  lies 


^  The  Ohio  Journal  of  Commerce. 

145 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

dormant,  and  the  expectation  of  every  optimist  is  that  the 
cooperation  of  the  next  generation  will  discover  some  of  this 
talent  for  the  benefit  of  humanity. 

Cooperation  develops  symmetry.  God  gives  to  most  persons 
at  birth  all  the  materials  for  the  development  of  a  symmetri- 
cal human  being.  The  great  trinity,  body,  mind  and  soul, 
is  the  inheritance  of  all.  What  do  most  people  do  with  this 
^reat  inheritance?  A  study  of  human  life  reveals  the  fact 
of  awful  neglect  and  misuse.  Only  here  and  there  does  one 
see  men  and  women  who  appreciate  what  God  has  given  them 
and  develop  their  threefold  nature,  thus  showing  the  world 
what  can  be  accomplished  when  the  whole  life  is  trained  for 
efficiency.  Most  persons  are  one-sided.  Here  is  a  man  with 
a  magnificent  physique,  but  with  the  mind  and  soul  of  an 
infant.  Soon  the  body  begins  to  show  the  marks  of  age  and 
then  the  man  is  reduced  to  poverty,  since  the  immortal  part 
of  him  has  been  neglected.  Here  is  another  man  with  a 
marvelously  developed  intellect  and  a  body  that  indicates 
that  his  whole  life  has  been  dedicated  to  the  intellectual  to 
the  great  detriment  of  the  physical.  The  world  admires 
intellect,  but  its  admiration  increases  when  intellect  has  not 
been  built  on  the  foundation  of  a  weak  body.  Alexander 
Pope,  the  invalid,  had  a  great  intellect,  but  an  "  interrogation 
point "  of  a  body.  Sir  Walter  Scott  had  a  great  intellect 
and  a  strong  body.  Whom  does  the  world  admire  the  more? 
Again,  a  man  may  develop  wonderfully  his  spiritual  nature 
with  little  thought  for  a  trained  intellect  and  a  well-kept 
body.  No,  it  is  the  symmetrical  man  that  the  world  admires 
most  today,  and  it  is  the  symmetrical  man  that  is  accomplish- 
ing the  most  in  establishing  the  Kingdom  here  on  earth. 

The  earth's  greatest  asset  is  the  child,  and  the  one  thing 
above  everything  else  that  appeals  to  the  child  is  symmetry. 
It  is  the  man  or  woman  who  is  in  perfect  sympathy 
with  the  play  life  of  childhood  and  who  experiences  with 
the  child  the  wild  joy  of  reveling  in  physical  activity;  the 
man  or  woman  who  can  rise  from  the  physical  in  easy  man- 
ner  to   the   mental   and   carry   the   child   on   the   wings    of 

146 


RURAL  COOPERATION 

imagination  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  thus  stimulat- 
ing the  developing  faculties  of  the  child's  intellect;  the  man 
or  woman  that  can,  by  an  appeal  such  as  is  possible  only  in 
natures  of  deep  spirituality  and  perfect  sincerity,  get  hold 
of  the  inner  life  of  childhood  and  pave  the  way  for  a  beau- 
tiful maturity  of  the  higher  powers  —  it  is  such  a  man  or 
woman  alone  who  can  be  the  means  of  causing  childhood 
to  flower  into  the  perfection  of  the  symmetrical  life. 

Cooperation  increases  respect  for  personality.  The  most 
sacred  thing  in  all  God's  universe  is  human  life,  and  yet  how 
common  is  the  custom  of  looking  upon  human  beings  simply 
as  bundles  of  energy  harnessed  for  profit,  or  as  existences 
that  contribute  to  physical  or  social  gratification.  Each  per- 
son's life  is  sacred  to  himself,  and  just  as  he  respects  his  own 
life,  so  should  he  respect  the  lives  of  others.  This  demands 
a  literal  application  of  the  Golden  Rule.  Human  intimacies 
that  rise  to  the  higher  planes  are  a  source  of  the  supremest 
pleasure  that  life  affords,  but  how  bitter  becomes  the  cup 
of  joy  if  the  lower  voices  prevail  in  social  intercourse!  There 
is  an  urgent  need  of  greater  respect  for  one  another,  and 
especially  is  a  renaissance  of  respect  of  man  for  woman 
imperative.  Civilization  rises  or  falls  with  the  regnancy  or 
decline  of  this  holy  respect.  All  the  civilizations  that  have 
perished,  disintegrated  because  of  the  absence  of  respect  on 
the  part  of  man  for  woman.  No  civilization  can  rise  higher 
than  its  respect  for  personalit}'.  The  following  incident, 
related  by  Prof.  J.  A.  Cramb,  in  his  book,  "  England  and 
Germany,"  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  incidents  of  antiquity. 

"  On  the  night  before  Alexander  of  Macedon  started  for 
the  East  on  that  career  of  conquest  in  which,  like  Achilles  his 
great  exemplar,  he  was  to  find  his  glory  and  an  early  death, 
he  had  a  farewell  interview  with  the  man  who  had  been  his 
tutor,  now  the  master  of  a  rising  school  of  thought  in  the 
shades  of  the  Lyceum.  And  towards  the  end  of  the  interview 
Aristotle  said  to  the  Macedonian: 

" '  You  are  about  to  start  upon  an  enterprise  which  will 
bring  you  into  many  lands  and  amongst  many  nations,  some 

147 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

already  celebrated  in  arts  and  arms,  some  savage  and 
unknown.  But  this  last  counsel  I  give  you :  Whithersoever 
your  victories  lead  you,  never  forget  that  you  are  a  Greek,  and 
everywhere  draw  hard  and  fast  the  line  that  separates  the 
Greek  from  the  barbarian/ 

"  *  No,'  answered  the  youthful  conqueror  —  he  was  barely 
two-and-twenty  — '  I  will  pursue  another  policy.  I  will  make 
all  men  Hellenes.    That  shall  be  the  purpose  of  my  victories.'  " 

Aristotle,  the  great  philosopher,  showed  a  supreme  dis- 
regard for  all  peoples  except  the  Greeks.  Alexander,  the 
world  conqueror,  cherished  the  ideal  of  raising  all  peoples  to 
higher  levels. 

Cooperation  invites  to  service.  In  the  field  of  cooperative 
activities  many  persons  are  found  who  dedicate  a  large  por- 
tion of  their  time  and  all  their  strength  to  enterprises  not 
established  for  profit  but  for  welfare  purposes.  'Examples 
of  this  sort  are  stimulating  and  arouse  general  emulation. 
Most  people  engage  just  as  eagerly  in  a  work  that  involves 
sacrifice  of  time,  effort  and  money  as  they  do  in  work  whose 
one  purpose  is  material  gain.  In  fact,  they  do  so  with  greater 
eagerness  in  all  cases  in  which  conditions  are  favorable,  and 
the  most  favorable  conditions  are  found  where  there  are 
numerous  examples  of  persons  unselfishly  giving  the  best  there 
is  in  them  for  the  benefit  of  all.  A  few  years  ago  a  certain 
rural  church  had  a  member  whose  name,  because  of  his  con- 
duct and  lack  of  interest  in  all  matters  that  pertained  to  the 
church,  the  pastor  would  have  been  justified  in  dropping  from 
the  rolls  of  the  church.  But  the  pastor  felt  there  was  some- 
thing in  the  fellow  and  believed  he  would  yet  make  a  strong 
working  member  of  the  church.  And  the  belief  of  the  pastor 
was  justified,  a  complete  transformation  took  place  and  the 
erring  member  became  a  tower  of  strength  among  the  little 
group  of  workers.  What  contributed  most  to  his  change  was 
the  activities  of  the  others  with  whom  he  came  into  constant 
contact.  The  psychologic  effect  of  unselfish  activity  on  the 
minds  of  the  selfish  often  leads  to  great  results.  A  good 
example  of  cooperation  inviting  to  service  is  also  found  in 
the  enlistment  of  millions  of  men  for  the  Great  War. 

148 


RURAL  COOPERATION 

A  study  of  world  progress  reveals  the  fact  that  cooperation 
is  a  COSMIC  LAW,  A  DIVINE  INJUNCTION.  In  the  beginning  there 
were  electrons;  these  acting  cooperatively  produced  atoms; 
these  acting  cooperatively  produced  molecules;  these  acting 
cooperatively  produced  protoplasts;  these  acting  cooperatively 
produced,  in  the  course  of  time,  human  beings.  In  human  his- 
tory the  cooperative  bodies  have  been  the  family,  the  tribe, 
the  clan  and  the  nation.  The  next  step  will  be  a  Federation 
of  Nations.   This  is  inevitable  —  it  is  the  will  of  Omnipotence. 

Far  back  in  the  beginning,  the  individual  toiled  with  his 
primitive  hand  tools  in  a  dark  and  dusty  corner.  Those  were 
the  days  of  an  almost  infinite  number  of  crude  industrial  units. 
Finally  Genius  produced  a  Machine.  What  was  the  result? 
A  decrease  in  the  number  of  industrial  units  and  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  individuals  representing  each  unit.  The 
beginning  of  the  Age  of  Machinery  marked  the  beginning  of 
Cooperation  in  the  Industrial  World.  From  time  to  time  the 
Machine  was  improved  and  with  every  improvement  the 
industrial  units  decreased  and  the  number  of  individuals  in 
each  unit  increased.  Finally,  the  larger  units  formed  them- 
selves into  Trusts.  The  first  Trusts,  which  represented  sim- 
ply a  stage  in  Business  Evolution,  were  selfish,  and  Humanity 
suffered.  Today,  however,  it  is  recognized  that  Trusts  are 
inevitable  and  that  gradually  they  will  prove  to  be  infinitely 
better  from  the  standpoint  of  human  service  than  an  innumer- 
able number  of  competing  units.  In  due  time  there  will  be 
cooperating  World  Trusts  to  serve  the  billion  and  a  half 
people  of  earth. 1 

Jesus  Christ  came  among  men  to  give  to  the  world  the 
Ultimate  Religion.  From  the  time  of  Christ  to  the  time  of 
Luther  and  other  great  leaders,  the  Christian  Church  served 
the  needs  of  the  most  civilized  portion  of  humanity.  But 
Luther,  a  world  prophet,  and  his  contemporaries,  after  a  time 
realized  that  while  humanity  was  advancing,  the  Christian 
Church  was  simply  marking  time.     The  result  was  a  Great 


^Several   thoughts   in   the  two   preceding  paragraphs   taken   from  The 
Ohio  Journal  of  commerce,  January  i,  191 6,  p.  4. 

149 


FIFTY  MILLION  STRONG 

Reformation,  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  a  Church 
more  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  human  progress.  But 
in  the  end  the  one  Protestant  Church  was  replaced  by  a  great 
number  of  Protestant  Churches,  many  of  which  differed 
simply  in  non-essentials.  In  the  past  generation,  however, 
the  many  Protestant  Churches  have  begun  to  disregard  the 
things  that  separate  them,  which  were  given  great  emphasis 
years  ago,  and  to  direct  their  attention  to  the  things  on  which 
they  agree.  This  is  a  wonderful  step  in  the  direction  of  event- 
ual church  union,  which  some  of  the  prophets  of  the  present 
day  consider  necessary  before  the  evangelization  of  all  the 
peoples  and  races  of  earth  can  be  undertaken  in  deadly  earnest. 
So  in  the  religious  world  the  next  step  will  be  church  union, 
and  the  final  step  will  be  the  whole  world  brought  to  the  foot 
of  the  Cross.  The  New  York  Independent  made  the  state- 
ment in  a  recent  editorial  that  there  is  today  a  "  world  con- 
science." If  this  be  true,  then  the  future  will  see  rapid  prog- 
ress in  the  establishing  of  the  K;ingdom  among  men. 

A  study  of  world  progress  reveals  the  fact  that  cooperation 
is  playing  an  increasingly  important  part  in  world  develop- 
ment, and  a  study  of  world  conditions  warrants  the  con- 
clusion that  America  is  likely  to  dominate  world  activities 
during  the  next  generation.  This  fact  and  this  conclusion 
being  rather  generally  accepted,  the  future  of  humanity  is  in  a 
measure  dependent  on  the  growth  of  the  cooperative  spirit  in 
the  United  States.  And  since  America  can  advance  no  more 
rapidly  than  the  Rural  Half  of  the  nation  progresses,  the 
National  Forward  Movement,  yea,  the  World  Forward  Move- 
ment rests  with  Rural  America. 

This  little  book  has  sought  to  make  clear  that,  in  the  preseni 
world  crisis.  Rural  America  will  rise  to  the  responsibility 
placed  upon  her  and  do  her  part  toward  making  the  next 
generation  the  greatest  in  all  history. 


ISO 


INDEX 


Absentee  landlordism,  60,  61 
Alexander  and  Aristotle,  147 
Ancestry,  America's,  2 
Anderson,  Bishop  W.  F.,  ed.,  123 
Anderson,  W.   L.,  45 
Antrim,  Saida  B.  &  E.  I.,  33,  46 
Aryan  family,  2 
Australia,   land  acts,   61 

Banks,  57-59 

Baseball,  127,  136 

Blue  sky  laws,  64 

Bonham,  M.  L.,  113 

Boy  scouts,  27-28 

Boys'  and  girls'  club  work,  56-57 

Bruraback  Library,  38,    139 

Cabot,  R.  C,  19 

Camp  fire  girls,  27-28 

Candor,  11 5-1 16 

Careers,  rural,   105 

Charlevoix,  Michigan,  41 

Chautauqua,  rural,  z'^ 

Cheese  factories,  Minnesota,  7o 

Church,   rural,  see  Country  cnurch 

Cities,  9-14 

Clearing  house,  village,   140 

Club    work,    boys'    and    girls',    see 

boys'  and  girls'  club  work 
"  Common  things  of  earth,"  102 
Community  centers,   31-32 
Community  spirit,   134-137 
Condition,  America's,   6 
Cooperation,        economic,        65-72; 

rural,   130-150;  unit  of,   138 
Cooperative  association,  defined,  71 
Country  church,  75-82,  141 
Country   church    conference,    19 15, 

TT,  80,  106 
Country  school,  see  Schools,  Rural 
Country  versus  city,  g-i8 
County   agricultural   agent,    55-56 
County   fair,  30 
County  health  agent,  83-86 
County      hospital,      see      Hospital, 

County; 
County  libraries,  34-38,   138 
County  unit,  23-24,   138-139 
Courage,   116-118 
Cramb,  J.   A.,   147 
Creameries,  Minnesota,  70 
Credits,  rural,  see  Rural  credits 
Crosby,    Ernest:     **  So  he  died  for 

his  faith,"  117 

Delta,   Colorado,  41 
Demtonstration  work,   56-57 
Dietetics^  92-93 
Doughty,  W.  E.,  4 
"  Drudgery  divine,"    10 1 


Eaton  County,  Michigan,  41 
Economic  cooperation,  see   Cooper- 
ation, economic 
Economic  problem,   rural,    141 
Edwards,  Richard  H.,   19 
Efficiency,  in  Rural  America,  73-74 
Eight  week  clubs,  44 
Entertainment  halls,   rural,   29 
Environment,  America's,   3 
Eugenics,  in  Rural  America,  88-90 
Extension  work,   52-55 

Fairness,   125-126 

Faith,    1 18-120;  America's,  7 

Fello^yship,   144 

Fertility,  14 

Field,  Jessie,  44,    112 

Financial  supremacy,  6 

Fiske,  G.  W.,  25,  90,   no 

Foundations,  to  handle  bequests,  ^2 

Germantown,   Ohio,   42,   46 
Germany,   dietetics   in   Great   War, 

Gray,  R.  L.,  73 

Greene   County,   Ohio,   41 

Hamerton,  Philip  G.,  19,  100 

Health,  83-93;  definition,  19;  in  the 
life  of  Christ,  21 

Health  agent,  see  County  health 
agent 

Health  days,  83-84 

Hershey  Chocolate  Company,  com- 
munity building,   32 

Holden,  the  Corn  King,  145 

Home  life,  rural,  94-99 

Home-owners,   17;   Rural,    103-104 

"  Homespun  age,"  45,   132,   144 

Hospital,  County,  86-87,   i39 

Household  service,  98-99 

Humor,  sense   of,    no- 112 

Imagination,    11 2-1 13 
Individualism,    131 
Initiative  and  referendum,  ^2 
Iowa,  County  hospital  law,  86 
Ireland,  land  acts,  61 
Isolation,  in  rural  life,   144 

Larcom,    Lucy:     "  Common   things 

of  earth,"  102 
Leadership,  rural,   108-129 
Library,       County,      see       County 

libraries 
Library,     rural,     33-38;     township, 

see  Township  libraries 
Life,  America's,  4 
Live     stock     shipping     association, 

Minnesota,   71 
Love,  94-99;  definition,  19;  ideal  of 

Christtianity,  22 


151 


INDEX 


Machinery,  Age  of,   149 
Mail-order  house,   137 
Marketing  bureaus,  68-69 
Marketing       and       farm       credits, 

National    Conference,     1915,    59, 

60-62,  66-72 
Marsh,  George  H.,  87 
Middle-man,  15 
Mills,  H.   S-,   144 
Minnesota,    economic    cooperation, 

69-71 
Monoma  County,  Iowa,  36 

National  Conference  on  Marketing 
and  farm  credits,  see  Marketing 
and  farm  credits.  National  Con- 
ference,  1915 

Nations,  eight  great,  3 

North  Carolina,  boys'  work,  26; 
rural  sanitation,   83-86 

*'  Nothing  to  do  but  work,"  iii 

Ohio,  agricultural  extension  under 
Smith-Lever  act,  54-55;  pioneer 
in  County  library  movement,  35; 
country  churches,   80-82 

Osborne,  W.  F.,  119 

Pearce,  C.  S.,   19 

Personality,   147 

Philanthropy,    127 

Play,  in  Rural  America,  25-46;  defi- 
nition, 19;  in  the  life  of  Christ, 
19 

Play  grounds,  26-27 

Play  parks,  29 

Play  picnics,  41 

Politics,  in  Rural  America,  72 

Prayer,  122-123 

Prohibition,  7;  see  also  Temper- 
ance 

Public  opinion,   128 

Quick  wit,  115 

Race  admixture,  11 

Reading  of  country  people,  46 

Rest,  definition,   19;   in  the  life  of 

Christ,    22;    in    Rural    America, 

100-102 
Revivals,   religious,    14 
Roads,   64-65 
Roberts,  A,  E.,  45 
Romance,   in  rural  life,   106 
Rural      America,      definition,      23; 

perils  of,  see  Country  versus  city 
Rural  church,  see  Country  church 
Rural  cooperation,  see  Cooperation, 

rural 
Rural  counties,  24 
Rural  credits,  59-62 
"  Rural  Juliet,"  94 
Rural  life  bureaus,  52 
Rural    sanitation,    see    Sanitation, 

rural 
Russell,  G.  W.,   16 


Sanitation,  rural,  83-86 

School   buildings,  49 

Schools,  rural,  48-52 

Schools,  urban,  48-49 

Self-control,   121-122 

Service,  148 

Sill,    Juliet:     "Drudgery    divine," 

lOI 

Slogans,  Missionary  and  Temper- 
ance, 7 

Smith-Lever  act^   52-54 

Social  life,  in  Rural  America,  45- 
46 

Spring  Valley,  Wisconsin,  commu- 
nity building,  32 

Stocks  and  bonds,  64 

Stores,   cooperative,    Minnesota,   71 

Sunday  school  picnics.  County,  40 

Surveys,  40 

Symmetry,    146 

Sympathy,  124-125 

Tact,  113-114 

Taft,  Anna  B.,  45,  141 

Tate,  W.  K.,  50,  51,  52 

Taxation,  62-64 

Team  work,  15,  136 

Temperance,   91-92;    see    also   Pr^ 

hibition 
Tenantry,   17 
Teutonic  nations,  2 
Township  cooperation,  139 
Township  libraries,  35-36 
Training,  America's,  5 

Undeveloped  regions,  3 
Urban  America,  10-14,  23 
Urbanitis,    16 

Van  Wert  County,  Ohio,  139; 

pital,  87;  Library,  38,   139 
Villages,    135-138 
Virility,  120 

Wagner,  Charles,  21 

Wallace,    Henry,  60 

Will-power,    121-122 

Windsor  County,  Vermont,  41 

Winnebago  County,  Iowa,  31  .^j 

Winthrop    Normal    and    Industrie 

College  of  South  Carolina,    50 
Work,  definition,  19;  in  the  life  c 

Christ,    20;    in    Rural    Americ; 

47-74 
Worship,  definition,  19;  in  the  Hi 

of  Christ,  20;  in  Rural  Americ; 

75-82 
Wright  County,  Iowa,  143 

Young    Men's     Christian    Associ; 

tion,      33,      127;      rural,     38-4i 

County,  44,   139 
Young  Women's  Christian  Assoc 

ation,      33;      rural,      38-44,     9' 

County,  44,  139 


152 


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